Dragonborn
by Brownies and Griffins
Summary: The teens of Berk have been forced to leave after their last invasion. Stoick is worried for their safety and decides to send them to another world to hide until the time is right. Hiccup isn't happy about having to hide who they really are and what they really are. And meeting a certain blonde certainly doesn't make it any easier. - Hiccstrid - Dragon!Hiccup
1. Chapter 1

Four ships sailed across the ocean towards the island that had just appeared on the horizon. A man stood at the helm as his men worked behind him. His bulky figure stood out against the crashing waves in front of him. He wore an armoured breastplate and shoulder pads atop his fur clothes. His head was adorned with a helmet out of which protruded two large horns, one on either side. The man watched the island slowly growing bigger, a vicious smirk playing across his lips.

"Alvin, sir, we're almost within their range." The man, Alvin, turned to see his second in command standing a few steps behind him. A man with a nervous look on his face who wore similar clothes and armour as his boss. His was of a slightly smaller stature but was still bulky none the less.

"Why so nervous, Savage?" Alvin asked the man as he stepped towards him. "We're heading to victory. Today is the day we rid this world of those unnatural beasts. I can feel it in my gut. Today the devils are done for."

"Yes, sir," Savage nodded quickly fidgeting slightly. He would have to make sure he was nowhere near his boss if they lost. "Shall I tell the men to ready the catapults?"

"Aye. And the crossbows too." Savage nodded again and hurried off to complete his tasks. Alvin on the other hand turned back to the front of the boat where he could clearly make out the island in the distance. "Where are ye, devils?" he whispered to himself as his gaze drifted upwards to the skies.

That's when he saw it. The black streak that flew almost too fast to be seen. The only beast he had yet to lay his eyes on. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. The Night Fury. There were two of them. But all he and his men had ever seen were black blurs racing through the clouds.

"They're here!" he yelled loud enough to be heard across all three ships. His men quickly jumped to action. Those with crossbows flanked he sides of the ships aiming at the sky, waiting for a target to appear. Those manning the catapults made sure that they were loaded and ready to fire.

For a while, all that could be heard was the creaking of the boats and the crashing of the waves. Then they heard a whistle. It started of quietly but then it grew louder and louder until it was an ear splitting screech. Then an explosion shocked the men to full attention as the saw the first of the four ships alight with fire. The whistling began again and then men searched for their target.

"Port side!" someone shouted and soon the air was thick with arrows as they sailed towards the black beast. It swerved and doubled back on itself. Then they heard the whistle start again. Except that this time it was coming from the opposite side. Another explosion rocked the sea as a second boat was set ablaze.

"There's two of them!" Alvin called out to his men. "Keep your eyes open and keep this boat heading towards the shore!" The men hurried to follow their leader's orders as they rushed back and forth across the two remaining ships.

In the air, the two beasts flew just above the clouds out of sight. They both knew that the most damage would be caused if the humans below reached the island. If they could contain the fight to the sea, there would be no problems. Their job was to dive bomb the boats. It was becoming increasingly difficult with the amount of ammunition this particular group of humans had. Their aquatic friends were below making sure that none of the humans now stranded in the water floated to the island.

The two looked towards each other and nodded. The smaller of the two dove down in one direction, the air whistling through his wings and tail fins. After a few seconds, the larger of the two dove down in the opposite direction lighting up the fire in his chest and aiming towards the nearest boat before the dumb humans could even guess at what was going on. Once that was done the two beasts sped back up into the clouds hidden from view once again. Only one ship left.

Down below, Alvin growled in anger. This was supposed to be the day. The day he lead his men to victory. But the pesky devils had ruined that for him. Why couldn't they just die?

As he watched his men run towards the approaching black blur and open fire he curiously turned in the other direction to see another shape approaching completely unnoticed. Like the last time it bombed a ship while his men were firing after the other beast which had retreated in the other side. So that's what their plan was. One distracts while the other destroys. Smart, but not smart enough.

"Savage!"

"Yes, Alvin?" His second in command came running towards him with a terrified look on his face.

"Next time ye see one of the monsters, only use half of the men to pursue it. Keep the other half on the opposite side of the ship."

"Are you sure that's wise, sir-"

"Are ye disobeying a direct order, Savage?" Alvin asked narrowing his eyes at the now shivering man.

"N-n-n-no, sir!" he said quickly. "I'll tell them right away!" He raced off and Alvin turned back towards the skies, ready in case they decided to change their tactic.

"I see one!" he heard from his left and turned to see half of his men run towards that side of the boat. The other half stayed on the right and as he turned to see the second beast approaching, they let loose.

In the sky, the larger of the two creatures heard the pained cry of his companion. That was his brother! What had happened? Had the plan not worked? He sped off to see his brother falling towards the sea. He picked up his speed until he caught up to the black shape flailing around in the sky.

He caught him between his paws and held him as best as he could until he was back at the island. He landed in an undignified heap on the ground, his brother skidding to a stop by his side. He quickly got to his feet to see people approaching from all sides and locked eyes with one particular person at the front of the crowd. A large man with a similar stature to Alvin who wore a bearskin cape across his shoulders and a chieftain's belt around his waist. In a split second, the black beast had morphed into a boy, eighteen years of age to be exact. He had lanky auburn hair and forest green eyes surrounded by freckles and a small figure that seemed to be the opposite of those around him.

He looked pleadingly into the eyes of the man before turning back to his brother who lay groaning in pain on the ground. He gently scratched the top of his head and whispered something that went unheard by those in the crowd. Suddenly, his brother too morphed into the shape of a skinny teenager who looked much like the first, except for his darker hair and lack of freckles.

The older boy scooped his wounded brother up into his arms and turned to the large man who stood watching the two, his face focused and worried.

"We missed the last boat. It won't be long before they're here. You'd better make sure that there's enough people at the docs." The boy's voiced was confidence laced with sadness as he gazed up into the face of the older man. "I'm taking Toothless to Gothi. Let me know if you need me."

The older man nodded and watched as the two boys disappeared through the crowd to the hut at the edge of the village. He shook his head deciding he would have time to worry later. He turned to the villagers around him who were also staring after the two boys with distraught expressions.

"Alright, listen up!" He quickly got the attention of those around him. "I need one person to take a report to Birger Ingerman."

"I'll go!" he heard a female voice call out from behind him. He saw a girl in her mid-teens step forwards. She had blonde hair in a messy ponytail leaving odd bits of hair sticking out all over her head. She wore a light blue top with a pink shoulder pad on her right shoulder, a yellow skirt and dark blue leggings with brown boots.

"Good lass," the man said. "Go tell your father everything that's happened and tell him to be ready just in case we need him." The girl nodded and raced off as fast as she could. The man turned back towards the crowd of people and ordered them down to the docks. It would be all hands on deck if they wanted to keep the humans out of the village and hopefully off the island.

"Stoick!" He turned around as he heard his name being called. He was soon face to face with a woman with auburn hair and icy blue eyes. Her hood was up around her face but she pushed it down as she approached. "What is this I hear about Toothless getting shot down?" Stoick cringed.

"Hiccup took him straight to Gothi's. I'm sure he'll be fine, Valka." Her look of disbelief showed exactly how he truly felt but right now he needed to make sure no one else got hurt. "At the moment, we need to make sure that those humans don't get anywhere near the village. We can worry about the boys later." Valka nodded and the two of them set off towards the docks.

When they got there, the villagers were all preparing for a fight. Weapons were being drawn and claws sharpened. Stoick and Valka walked straight up to a man who stood with a sharpening stone, sharpening the axe prosthetic that replaced his arm. His leg was also missing and was made of wood. On his head sat the helmet with horns, the same as most of those around him. His blue eyes looked up as Stoick and Valka approached and he scratched his blonde moustache that was braided on either side before greeting the two.

"How are we doing, Gobber?" Stoick asked.

"Well, by the looks of it, the boat that the boys missed was the biggest. It's full to the brim with humans. Everyone's ready though. They don't stand a chance." Gobber grinned and Stoick smiled back. "How's Toothless? I saw him go down. Didn't look too good." That brought the mood down immediately.

"Hiccup took him to Gothi, but I'll go find out after these mutton brained humans have paid for hurting my boy."

Gobber nodded and the three of them quickly set off for the edge of the docks. Once there they quickly made their way to the front of the crowd of angry, armed people waiting for the humans. On the very edge of the docks stood six beasts of varying colours, from red to green to purple. Their spiked tails thrashed back and forth behind them. They stood on two hind legs and propped themselves up by the claws on the end of their wingtips. They had spikes that ran along the edges of their wings and down their spines and large horns protruding from the top of their heads. They were snarling and growling through their many sharp teeth as the boat drew ever closer.

Stoick nodded at the first beast and it nodded back. It let out a roar which the other five answered. Soon they were all firing towards the boat. The sails caught fire and the men started yelling to each other in a panic. All the men but one, who stood tall and proud at the front of his ship staring right into Stoick's eyes. Alvin. He turned away for a second only to grab a large plank of wood and shove it into a man's arms. The man quickly laid it out ready to cross onto the land and soon all the men from the ship were running across the rocks that lined the docks towards where the villagers stood.

Stoick turned to a man who stood behind him. His blonde hair and beard blowing in the breeze and his blue eyes quickly locked onto Stoick's. "You're up, Thorston." The man nodded and quickly morphed into a red beast that crouched low to the ground with suspicious looking eyes, large wings and spines down the length of its body and tail. He had horns on his head out of which protruded vine like antennae. In the blink of an eye he had disappeared from sight. Stoick turned back towards the advancing men who were suddenly either thrown back or covered in green acid.

"Changewings!" Stoick heard the men call out. He smiled to himself as he watched some run in terror. He then turned towards the rest of the crowd.

"Everyone! Any you can, pick up and drop back into that ship and Keep them back away from the village! Now, let's show them why they should never invade our island!" He was met with a combination of cheering and roaring as all the men, women and beasts around him raced off towards the humans. He turned to Valka who stayed standing beside him. "Stay in the sky and help those who need it."

"What are you going to do?" she asked him, concern in her voice.

"I'm going to take care of Alvin." She nodded and took a step forwards, turning back slightly.

"Stay safe. For me and for our boys." With that shapeshifted into an owl like creature and spread her four wings, taking to the sky. Stoick watched her for a second before he turned his attention to searching for Alvin. He saw him not far away, wrestling with a Changewing. He quickly ran over and pushed them apart, gesturing for the beast to leave, which he did.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Stoick the Vast. Chief of the unnatural." Stoick turned to see Alvin standing there, a smug look on his face.

"Why are you here, Alvin?" Stoick asked. "My tribe and I have made no move against you or your people. We only wish to be left alone."

"What you and your people are is wrong. You shouldn't exist. Men and dragons, together, as one? It's not right. And I intend to make the world right again." Alvin pulled out a sword from its sheath that sat on his belt. Stoick mirrored his actions with his axe.

"You can't win this one, Alvin. You only have one ship left and most of your men are either dead, wounded or on that ship waiting to be shipped off. Leave now and you can leave in peace." Alvin scoffed and charged. He and Stoick met in a clash of metal.

Each of Alvin's swings was blocked as Stoick stayed on the defensive, biding his time. It wouldn't be long until all the other men were dealt with. Soon Stoick saw the other villagers out of the corner of his eye had started to surround them.

"Give it up, Alvin," Stoick growled. "It's over." Alvin took the moment to notice that he was surrounded and the anger on his face deepened. He was about to lash out at Stoick when he was snatched up and heaved into the air by Valka in her dragon form.

"This isn't over, Stoick!" he called out from the air before he was dropped into the boat along with his men. The beasts that were in the sea then began slowly pushing the boat away from their island.

Valka landed and shifted forms as the crowd around them erupted in cheers and happy roars. All around them the villagers were happy to have ridded themselves of the horrible humans who tried to destroy them. As they began to celebrate Stoick and Valka took off in the opposite direction, towards the healer's hut on the north side of the village.

Once there they pushed the creaky door open to see a very short, old woman crushing some herbs into some water and helping the boy who sat up on the bed to drink. Beside the bed, the elder brother sat with his hands running through his hair in worry. He turned when he heard the door open and nodded to the two as they entered.

Valka was immediately at the healer's side and grabbed a hold of the boy's hand. His eyes cracked open slightly and he smiled softly.

"Hi, Mom," he muttered coughing slightly.

"Oh, Toothless. What have I told you about being careful?" The boy rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine, Mom. Really." He earned a glare from the healer and gave a slight shake of his head, hoping his mother wouldn't notice. But she did.

"Something's wrong." Toothless opened his mouth to deny it when Hiccup jumped in.

"Just tell her, Tooth."

"What's wrong?" Stoick emphasised. Toothless turned to look at his father with slight panic in his eyes. He sighed and hung his head in embarrassment.

"I lost a tailfin." The room went eerily quiet. A pin could have dropped and he sound would have echoed through all of their ears.

"You what?" Valka's face was pure shock, as was Stoick's. Hiccup's head fell back into his hands as he went back to running his fingers through his hair.

"When I was shot down. They managed to hit my left tailfin. I'll never fly again."

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 **So, I finally got around to starting my next story. I think this is the longest chapter I have ever done.  
** **I would love feedback to know if you guys like this and whether I should carry on or not. Please let me know. Unlike my last story, I'm going to try to make every chapter as long and detailed as possible.  
So please let me know! Thanks!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Was not expecting this much interest after one chapter. Not expected, much appreciated.  
So, here is chapter two! Enjoy!  
I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

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Valka felt like her heart had jumped into her throat. Her baby would never fly again? How could this have happened? He loved flying. He and his brother were the best fliers on Berk. Heck, they were the best fliers as far as they'd explored in any direction. And now he would never fly again?

Stoick was unsure what to think. He couldn't imagine never flying. He knew that one day he would be too old and frail to fly, the same as everyone else, but his son wasn't supposed to experience that _before_ him. He slumped down in the chair that sat behind him and watched as his wife gripped their son's hand and a tear slid down her cheek.

Hiccup couldn't take it anymore. He quickly got up and walked out of the small hut, the door slamming shut behind him. Toothless watched him in understanding. Hiccup had always been overprotective, even though they were only born one year apart. Toothless turned back to his shocked father and crying mother and decided his brother needed some time to himself.

The door to the forge slowly slid open and Hiccup's head appeared in the doorway. Seeing that no one was inside he walked over to the axe that hung on the wall. It was the first axe he had ever made for his father. He had made others since then, which is why it hung on the wall of the forge, as a reminder to Hiccup that his father was proud of him.

He quickly left the forge, axe in hand and headed into the forest. Once he was far enough away from the village and had found his usual clearing he began swinging the axe around in frustration. Suddenly the trees became the humans who had shot down his brother. They became the arrows that had slowed him down. They became the net that had torn his tailfin. They became himself as he realised that it was his plan that had got Toothless hurt in the first place. _His_ tactic that the humans must have figured out. Why had he been so foolish to think that they wouldn't catch on? They should have switched tactics for the last boat. Then the human's would never have seen them coming. They would never have made it to shore. Toothless would never have been hurt. It was his fault.

He took his frustration out on the trees, the axe swinging fast and precise, landing every mark. He was grateful for his dragon strength. He had sometimes thought about what he would be like if he had been born human. He had been born small, the same as his brother. They had both come into the world early and for that reason they were runts. But their dragon halves made up for what their human halves lacked. They had both turned out to be Night Furies. It was rare for siblings to be born the same kind of dragon. Unless they were twins, but most twins tended to be Hideous Zipplebacks. Hiccup could never understand how anyone could share a body but apparently it wasn't that bad.

Hiccup eventually slumped down against a tree, the axe falling limp at his side. He tried to let his mind wander onto another topic. His chieftain training with his dad, his forgery apprenticeship with Gobber. Anything that could keep his mind off Toothless. But no matter what he pushed to the forefront, he couldn't keep that question from appearing in front of everything else. How could he let this happen to his little brother?

"Hiccup?" His thoughts were interrupted by the voice beside him. He slowly opened his eyes which had closed in his frustration and turned to see a chubby boy with blonde hair and nervous eyes watching him.

"What do you want, Fishlegs?" he asked with a sigh. The boy sat next to him with a thump.

"I wanted to see how you were doing. Especially after what happened with Toothless. Is he ok? The whole village is worried since no one has seen any of you since the fight ended."

"I'm fine, Fish," Hiccup replied annoyed. "But Tooth… He's never going to fly again. And it's all my fault." Fishlegs stared at him in shock.

"But Gobber said he saw the whole thing! The human's shot down Toothless and you swooped in to catch him. How was him getting shot down your fault?" The boy's eyes were no longer nervous but firm and serious.

"It was my fault we stuck with the same plan for every ship. It was my plan and the human's figured it out and because of that they got to the shore and my brother was hurt." Hiccup ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his eyes in annoyance. Annoyed at himself.

"You listen to me Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third." Fishlegs now had his whole attention. It was not often he spoke like that. "That was not your fault. That could have been anyone's fault. You could never have known that you had to switch tactics in that moment. No one could have. Don't you dare blame yourself." Deep down Hiccup knew that his friend was right but he couldn't help the guilty feeling that sat in the pit of his stomach.

"It should have been me. Toothless doesn't deserve this."

"And you do?" Hiccup turned to look at the impatient expression on Fishlegs' face. "No one does, Hiccup. Now, are you going to come back to the village with me or are you going to sit here moping like a child all day?"

Hiccup didn't need to be told twice. He forced himself up and gripped the handle of the axe lifting it off of the ground. He and Fishlegs walked back to the village in silence. Once there, they went their separate ways, Fishlegs off to find his father and Hiccup off to apologise to his family for his dramatic exit.

As he approached he saw Valka and Toothless heading off out of the healers hut. Stoick emerged a few seconds later in conversation with the healer. She waved him off and the door shut behind her as she walked back inside. Stoick turned around just as Hiccup drew near. He stopped in front of his father and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I'm sorry about my attitude back there, Dad. I just… I'm angry at myself. It was my plan and if I had thought it out better then…"

"Hiccup." Hiccup didn't hear his father and carried on speaking.

"I should've known better. I should've changed tactics and-"

"Hiccup!" Stoick caught his son's attention by grabbing hold of his shoulders. Hiccup's forest eyes looked up into his father's blue ones. "It wasn't your fault."

"But-"

"No! Don't you dare blame yourself. There was no way you could have known. No way _anyone_ could have known. Understood?" Stoick looked firmly into his son's eyes.

"Understood, Dad." Stoick smiled slightly.

"Good. Now, can you please go and find Gobber and Birger and tell them to meet me in the great hall." Hiccup nodded.

"Council meeting?" he asked. Stoick nodded back. "You want me to be there?"

"No," Stoick replied shaking his head. "I need you to assess the damage at the docks."

"No problem."

Stoick watched his eldest son walk away with a sad smile on his face. He loved his boys dearly, but sometimes Hiccup took too much responsibility on his shoulders. Responsibility that he didn't need to bear. But he wanted to help and protect the village as much as he could and Stoick was proud of him for that. Which was what would make this decision such a hard one.

Hiccup walked through the village keeping an eye out for Gobber and Birger. He eventually found them deep in conversation near the docks, Fishlegs by his father's side. Hiccup stood next to his friend and waited patiently for the two men to finish.

"There ye are lad!" Gobber called out once they had stopped talking. "You ok?"

"I could be better, but thanks for asking," Hiccup replied not really wanting to talk much more than he had to.

"Well don't you worry. I'm sure everything's fine." Gobber watched as Hiccup sighed with a downcast look on his face. He had been the boy's mentor in the forge and in some of his other training since he was small. He could tell when he was upset and annoyed. Usually it was with himself, though Gobber could never understand why.

"My dad said he wanted you two in the great hall," Hiccup said quickly changing the subject. The two men nodded and, not wanting to upset the chief, hurried off towards the huge hall that had been built right into the mountain.

"Are you not going?" Fishlegs asked from beside Hiccup. He shook his head. Normally he would since it was a part of his chief training, unless he was tasked with something else, like this particular instance.

"No, I'm doing damage checks," he replied. The two boys then silently headed down to where the main fight had taken place, Fishlegs coming along to help his friend as he quite often did.

They looked around but thankfully the fight had been pretty contained and the main damage was only to a few of the planks that made up the walkways between the boats. They didn't use boats very often anyway so it didn't really matter when they got around to fixing them. They were mostly here in case a tribe who had never encountered them before wouldn't get suspicious and learn that they weren't normal. Well, normal from a human's viewpoint. To them, humans weren't the normal ones.

Once they were done they headed towards the great hall. They walked on in silence until they passed the twins who were, as usual, with Snotlout. The twins were identical and looked almost exactly the same, except that one was a girl named Ruffnut and the other was a boy named Tuffnut. They both had long blonde hair but Ruffnut's was in three large braids, one on the left, one on the right and one down her back while Tuffnut's hair was loose.

Snotlout was Hiccup and Toothless' annoying cousin. He had an ego the size of the island and his stupidity surpassed most. Hiccup could tolerate him so long as there were no single women around, at which point he would try to show off, which normally ended very badly for him. He was also always trying to prove himself better than Hiccup.

"Hey, Fishbone!" he called out as he and the twins joined Hiccup and Fishlegs. Hiccup groaned. Snotlout had called him that ever since he was little because of his small size. He hated it.

"What do you want, Snotface?" He could see Snotlout scowl from behind him.

"Just wanted to see what you guys were up to," Tuffnut said before Snotlout could reply. As always, oblivious to the animosity between the two cousins.

"We're just heading up to the great hall to give the chief the damage report," Fishlegs replied just flat out ignoring Hiccup and Snotlout.

"Sounds good," Ruffnut said as they all carried on walking together.

Soon the hall was in sight and they all walked up the steps to the entrance. Hiccup pushed open the large doors and they all walked through. The great hall was pretty much exactly that. An enormous hall carved into a mountain. There were tables and chairs and a great fire in the middle that cast an eerie light across the room. But to Hiccup, it was comfort.

Sitting at a table in front of the chief's chair on the far side of the hall was a large group of men. Hiccup furrowed his brow as he counted the heads. He was sure there were only five council members. Stoick as acting chief, Gobber as his second in command and best advisor, Spitelout his brother as one of the tribe's best warriors, Mulch as food and supply advisor and finally Birger as the tribe's strategist. Taking a closer look he noticed it wasn't just men, it was also women. It was all of their parents. All except for Valka, who was no doubt still with Toothless.

"Hiccup!" Stoick called out. "There you are. There's something that we've been discussing that you need to hear. All of you." The five friends share confused looks before each taking a seat near their parents. Hiccup took a seat between his father and Gobber, eyeing them cautiously.

"After the events of today, especially concerning Toothless," Stoick began. Hiccup's head immediately fell into his hands. Gobber placed a comforting prosthetic on his back. "We've all discussed it together and we all agree that with all the invading humans, Berk is no longer a safe place to live. In light of this we have all decided, that the best way to protect our children, is to send you all away."

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 **Thanks to everyone who followed and favorited. A special thanks to those who reviewed. Reviews make my day and spur on faster updates.  
In case it isn't clear, everyone on Berk are like, half dragon/half human. It will get clearer as it goes along though.  
** _Dreamyragonrider:_ **Really?! Thanks!  
** _darkshadey01:_ **Yes. Yes it is.  
** _Jonntelar:_ **They all are. And thanks!  
Thanks for all the feedback guys! I really appreciate it! ****Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this chapter took so long. I honestly have no idea how often these chapters will be.**

 **Getting more and more excited at the amount of followers and favourites. Yay!**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Read on!**

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"What!?" Hiccup yelled looking up at his father. They were sending them away!? "Dad! You can't do that!"

"Hiccup!" Stoick replied in a warning voice.

"With all due respect, sir," Fishlegs began from the other end of the table where he sat beside his parents. "Hiccup and Tooth- I mean, Hiccup is one of our best fliers, not to mention the twins' destructive capabilities and-"

"That's enough, son," Birger said, calmly placing a hand on his son's shoulder. He didn't want to send his children away and he knew Berk might suffer a little but he would bear it if it meant that his son and daughter would be safe.

Fishlegs turned to his father and started arguing his case towards him, which caused all the other teens to turn to their respective parents and start arguing as well.

"Look, Dad, I get it. I messed up. But-" Hiccup started, ignoring the yelling from the other occupants of the table. Stoick cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"That's not what this is about, son."Hiccup looked up into his fathers determined blue eyes waiting for the explanation. "I've already had to watch your brother get hurt. I don't want that to happen to you too. I don't want to loose you. Either of you."

"But we're Dragonborns, Dad. We don't run from a fight!" Hiccup watched as his father looked down with a sigh. He had already made a hard decision and Hiccup was just making it harder. His heart clenched as he realised what he had to do. "I'm not going to get you to change you mind, am I?" Stoick shook his head. Hiccup sighed. "Where are we going?"

The noise around them immediately stopped. The other teens all sat with their mouths hanging open. Everyone knew how stubborn Hiccup was. He got it from his father. Once he set his mind on something, he was as stubborn as a rock. If he had given up, they knew there was no hope of changing the chief's mind.

"Somewhere the humans won't know to look," Stoick answered simply, his deep voice echoing through the silence. Hiccup's brow furrowed in confusion before his expression was quickly replaced by shock.

"There!? Really!?" Stoick nodded. "But it's… It's not normal there!"

"It's the only place where they won't find you."

Hiccup stood up suddenly, the scrape of his chair across the ground startling everyone in the room. Scorch marks remained on the table in the place that his hands had been when he had pushed away. He stormed out of the hall growling as he headed towards his home. He pushed the door open and walked into the small family room where Toothless sat in their father's armchair. He looked thoroughly annoyed as their mother pandered over him like he was still a baby. In a chair beside him sat a girl with blonde hair in a high ponytail and clothes that had been painted a variety of colours. She look like she was trying to stifle a laugh as she watched Toothless keep batting their mother's hand away.

"Do you know anything about this?" Hiccup asked gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

"Know anything about what?" Valka asked confused.

"Dad's sending us away!" Hiccup could feel himself getting frustrated again.

"He's what!?" Toothless yelled sitting up.

"He said that he would talk to the other parents first," Valka commented calmly.

"You knew?" Hiccup asked feeling betrayed. His mother wouldn't really want them sent away, right? Valka nodded.

"And you agreed!?" Toothless asked standing up, ignoring the pain he felt as he did. Valka sighed and her head fell slightly.

"Stoick can't just send you guys away!" the blonde girl exclaimed.

"He's not the only one, Stormfly," Hiccup replied turning towards her. "You're parents agreed too."

"Not for long they don't," Stormfly exclaimed as she raced off out the door. Toothless watched her go, cringing as the door slammed shut behind her. Hiccup had already forgotten about the angry girl and was turning towards his mother again.

"I came here hoping you could talk some sense into him. Clearly I was wrong." And with that he started up the stairs. Valka and Toothless listened to the crashing noises coming from the floor above them for a while before Toothless turned to face his mother.

"I think you'll find that though we're still young, our generation contributes a lot more than you realise. This isn't going to end well for the tribe."

"We're just trying to protect you, that's all," Valka replied, reaching out to take her son's hand. He waved her away and she sat back in surprise. He had never pushed her away in any way before. "We love you very much. That's why we've decided to do this."

"Well it doesn't feel like it," Toothless said before getting up with a groan and heading up the stairs trying to ignore the pain.

He reached his and his brother's shared room and walked inside, setting himself down on the bed. He looked around at the broken furniture and charred books and pages and the scorch marks along the walls.

"Hiccup?" Toothless watched Hiccup as he stood in the middle of the room, his fist clenching and unclenching.

"Hey Tooth," Hiccup said finally, sitting beside his brother with a sigh. "I'm sorry about this. I tried to stay calm as long as I could but the anger in me just got too strong to hold it in."

"It's ok, Hic. And don't worry. We'll get through this together." Hiccup turned towards Toothless who sat with a reassuring smile on his face. Hiccup smiled back.

"It's not like they could ever separate us, right little brother?"

"Not ever, big brother."

The two boys laughed and Hiccup pulled Toothless into a headlock while he kept ruffling his hair. Toothless squirmed in his arms before ramming an elbow into his hut. Soon enough the two boys were fighting like they used to when they were kids. Eventually they stopped, each one laying beside the other on the floor.

"Brothers forever?" Toothless asked, already knowing the answer. Hiccup smiled as he answered.

"Brothers forever."

Stormfly walked up to her house and through the door seeing that her parents and brother had clearly not long been home. She stood in the doorway with her arms crossed angrily, waiting impatiently for someone to notice her so that she could tell them exactly what she thought of the plan. As soon as she locked eyes with her mother she slammed the door behind her dramatically.

"You're sending us away?!"

"Stormfly!" her mother called out running towards her. "Where have you been?"

"I was with Valka and Toothless," Stormfly replied shaking her head before she stepped forwards towards her mother. "But clearly, I should have been in the great hall yelling at you for making such a dumb ass decision."

"Stormfly!" Birger called out from the other side of the room.

"What?" she asked annoyed. "It's true. This is the dumbest decision you've ever made." And with that she stormed off up the stairs, a growl in the back of her throat.

Birger and his wife, Thyra, looked at each other in exasperation. What were they supposed to do? Fishlegs, who had been sitting quietly during the argument stepped forwards with a sigh.

"I'll talk to her. Even though I completely agree." One stern look from his mother and the boy was quickly on his way up the stairs to his sister's room. He gently knocked in the door and, receiving no answer, slowly opened the door to find her sitting on the bed sharpening an axe.

"Hey, sis," he said as he moved forwards, shutting the door behind him. He was involuntarily rubbing his hands together as his nerves kicked in. His sister terrified him sometimes.

"What do you want, Fish?" she asked, not taking her eyes off of the stone.

"Just to talk," he replied simply.

"Did they send you?" she asked.

"No," he replied truthfully with a sigh. She nodded her head, gesturing to the empty space on the bed beside her. Fishlegs sat down and looked around at her room. It wasn't often that he came in. He was well aware that girls needed their privacy and steered clear of the room as often as he could. The room was simple. There were a few weapons hung up on the wall, like axes and swords. The walls themselves were plastered with brightly coloured paint. His sister was obsessed with covering her belongings in bright colours. Specially the colours of her scales. While her dragon form was a Nadder of mostly blue and yellow scales, she also had a few pink and green, as well as orange flecks on her spines.

"What do you want to talk about? The fact that we're being forced out of the village without a choice?" He could hear the anger in her voice and tried to figure out how to calm her down.

"Pretty much." He cringed at that. Not the best start. He searched around in his brain for the best option before deciding that this was this sister, she needed forceful.

"Look, I know that Mom and Dad are making a big decision for us and no, I really don't agree with them, nor do I like the idea, but we have no choice in this. And we aren't the only ones either. All the younger generation is being sent away, and none of us can do anything about that. So our best bet, is to follow along with what everyone else says and hope that if we're well behaved and brave, that they'll see reason and let us back sooner than they would if we had tantrums all the time."

Having said all that needed to be said Fishlegs stood and was about to leave his sister alone to think about what he had said. Before he could leave the room, he heard a voice from behind him.

"You're right." He turned to see his sister with her head down. "I overreacted and I need to face this with a calm head. Thanks, Fish. I'm glad I'm at least not leaving you behind." She smiled at her big brother and he smiled back.

"And miss my sister admitting that I'm right? Never!" They both laughed and Fishlegs slowly exited the room.

The next day the village gathered at the edge of the forest to see the young ones off. The parents all stood in front, with Gobber standing off to the side waiting to lead the teenagers away. They said their goodbyes, the mothers with tears in their eyes.

Hiccup stood beside his brother, each with a large pack, and hugged his mother. Valka was crying the most out of all the mothers. She couldn't bear to be separated from her babies. But she knew it was the right thing to do. Hiccup looked into his father's eyes as Valka moved on to Toothless.

"You look after them, Hiccup," Stoick said to his eldest son.

"I will, Dad."

"You need to keep them in order, as future chief, I'm giving you this responsibility."

"I will do everything I can to keep them in order." Stoick nodded in approval at his son, before remembering something else.

"You've been there before, haven't you?" Hiccup nodded. "Good. Then I trust you'll know what to do to fit in." Hiccup nodded once more before they both turned back to Valka and Toothless.

Soon the whole group was ready to go. After their final waves the group was lead away by Gobber, and all the while they wondered what would happen next.

* * *

 **So thanks for the feedback guys. This is basically the end to the introduction. From the next chapter onwards it should start with the story a bit more.**

 **In case you were wondering, I picked the names Birger and Thyra Ingerman for Fishlegs', and in this AU, Stormfly's parents for the way I want their personalities to come across. _Birger_ means 'one who helps' which I thought was fitting since his main role in the village is to help out as the strategist. _Thyra_ means 'like thunder' which I picked to show her outspoken personality. I hope that that came across. **

darkshadey01: **She will appear, just you wait and see.**

midnightsky0612: **Stubborn just like their father.**

Dragon Bromsson: **Thanks!**

Dreamydragonrider: **No! If you start hyperventilating, then I'll start hyperventilating and then that is a mess we do not want to get into. On another note, thanks so much and I am trying to update but I'm also trying to make the chapters longer than the ones I did on my last story. But thanks for the support.**

Jonntelar: **Woo! That was the idea, so thank you very muchly!**

The Windwalker: **Yes, no and thanks so much!**

 **So, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. Keep them reviews coming cause that's what keeps me writing. Honestly, they do.**

 **Until next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! So sorry for the long wait! No excuses! I'll try to get the next one out faster.**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Enjoy! And don't forget to leave feedback!**

* * *

Everyone in the group was silent as they walked through the trees. The only sounds were the soft footfalls of the teenagers and the heavy clomp stomp, clomp stomp of Gobber limping along on his wooden leg.

Although they were all thinking about separate things, their thoughts all had one common subject. What would happen next? They were all imagining different scenarios as they wandered through the forest after the older man.

It wasn't too long until they came to the mountain side. The rough stone wall stretching high above them. They walked along the wall, silence stretching out between them as their thoughts coincided in the same question. Where were they going? Were they staying on the island? Was there some hidden boat in the other side waiting to take them away? It would take hours to walk all the way to the other side of the island. Couldn't the just fly? Only Gobber, Hiccup and Toothless knew. Though, like the others, they remained silent as they walked along the mountain side.

Then all of a sudden, Gobber had stopped. The teens who didn't know where they were headed looked around wondering where they were. Hiccup and Toothless moved to stand by Gobber's side as he turned to address the group. That was when they noticed that he had stopped in front on a large crack in the mountain side. It was just large enough for a person to push themselves through. But it's not like that's what they were doing. Right?

"Alright," Gobber said with a smile looking around at all the young ones gathered around him. "Who's first?" Or maybe they were?

"First to do what?" Snotlout asked asked confused. Gobber's grin only grew wider.

"First to slide through the gap."

They all glanced at each other, completely at a loss as to what was happening. Then they heard a groan and turned to see Hiccup rolling his eyes and pulling his pack off of his shoulder. He passed it to Toothless asking him to pass it through and stepped towards the crack. He pushed himself through most of the way before Toothless handed him the pack, then he pushed himself through a little further and he was gone. The black inside the gab had swallowed him up completely so that they couldn't see him.

"Who's next?" Gobber asked his grin not having faded. When no one uttered a word, still too confused to comprehend anything, Toothless stepped forwards muttering about everyone being chicken and handed Gobber his pack, the same as Hiccup had done. He pushed himself through part of the way before Gobber passed him the pack and, just like his brother, he too was gone.

Gobber looked back at the teens with an expectant look on his face. Stormfly, not liking being called 'chicken' by anyone, especially Toothless, stepped forwards holding out her own pack. She did the same as the two boys before her and, much to her brother's shock, she too was gone.

One by one, the rest slowly took it in turns to crawl their way through the crack down the wall in the mountain. First Snotlout, then Ruffnut, then Tuffnut and then Fishlegs who was followed by Gobber. Fishlegs found it the hardest out of the teens trying to squeeze through the gab. He wasn't exactly small, not like his sister. He eventually managed to push himself through and turned, half expecting to see the inside of the mountain. He was not expecting to be in the middle of a forest, not unlike the one they had just left, apart from the river running beside them.

He quickly moved out of the way as he heard Gobber grunting as he tried to pull himself through behind him. Gobber grinned as he saw the awed looks of the young ones around him.

"It's a pretty sight, ain't it?" he said as he looked around at the trees and the flowing water. "Well, I suppose we'd best be getting to the hideout."

"The hideout?" Stormfly asked. She was already confused as to where they were, let alone where they were going.

"The old abandoned mill we found. We did it up to make it inhabitable," Hiccup added. He walked towards the river then began walking along the bank. Toothless followed along with Gobber behind him grinning. The teens all shared a glance for the umpteenth time since they had left the village before following along with their friends.

It wasn't long, walking along side the river, until they came to a large building that sat on the edge of the water. It looked old and run down from the outside. Snotlout scoffed at the sight. They had said that they had done it up. But it looked like it was falling apart. And the windows were all boarded up. Were they supposed to live here?

Hiccup walked up to the door and pushed it open. It creaked as it swung wide to show an eerie looking hallway. Gobber pushed his way to the front and walked ahead down the hall and turned right through a door. As the others followed, they found that the inside was completely different to the outside. There were comfy looking chairs and enough of the boards had been taken off of the windows to let in just enough light. All in all it was a comfortable space.

"This is the sitting room, as you can see," Gobber said pointing around the room. "There's four rooms upstairs for you to use as bedrooms so some of you will have to share." Toothless took a subconscious step towards his brother. He did not want to share anyone else. Hiccup smiled noticing his actions and put a hand on his shoulder.

In the end they decided that it would be best if the two girls roomed together, much to Stormfly's annoyance, and since neither Snotlout nor Fishlegs wanted to spend nights with Tuffnut, they ended up roomed together as well, leaving Tuffnut to have his own room. Though he did have to share it with Gobber for the duration of his stay.

They each found their rooms and, after eventually deciding on who would get which room, they set their things out. They all met back down in the sitting room, once they were ready, to discuss what was going to happen.

"So what is this place?" was the first question that came out of Fishlegs mouth. He, his sister, the twins and Snotlout were all seated while Hiccup, Gobber and Toothless all stood in front of them.

"We're not entirely sure," Hiccup started slowly.

"Stoick and I stumbled upon this place when we were your age," Gobber continued. "We explored it and did what we could to learn of the people here. It's a different world from what your used to and it's going to take some getting used to."

"So how come you've been here before?" Snotlout asked Hiccup.

"Gobber used to bring us here when we were younger," he answered.

"This was his way of babysitting," Toothless added with a sly smile. Gobber shook his head at the boy.

"The point is that this place is different and because of that you're all going to have to change to fit in." Gobber looked around at the confused faces and grinned.

"What do you mean we have to change?" Stormfly asked.

"Are people here really deformed or something?" Ruffnut asked with an evil grin on her face.

"If you want us to deform our bodies we can do scars but just not burns. We don't burn," Tuffnut added with a dead straight face. Hiccup narrowed his eyes in confusion before shaking the nonsense memory from his mind.

"None of us can burn, you idiot," he replied wondering how his friend could be so stupid. "And no one is being deformed. All we mean is that people dress and talk differently here. They have different names and a different culture. If we want to fit in, we can't do so looking like this."

"So what do we need to do then?" Stormfly asked. Hiccup glanced at Toothless who turned around to grab a bundle of cloth that sat behind him and threw it at her. She then noticed that it was actually clothes that he had thrown. Strange clothes. The top was like a tunic, only shorter and it was plain blue. The bottoms were different to the cloth leggings that she was used to. The material was tough and dark blue. It was slightly frayed at the bottom and threads were showing. She glanced up at Toothless to see him chucking a similar bundle towards everyone else.

"These clothes may seem weird to us but they are normal here and you need to blend in," Gobber said holding up some clothes of his own.

"We're also going to need new names," Toothless added from the side where he stood analysing his own clothes. "We need to find a place where we can see a list of names to choose from." Suddenly, Fishlegs raised his hand, his expression overly excited.

"Just spit it out Fishlegs. We're not teach in a class!" Gobber exclaimed.

"What about a library?" he asked excited at the prospect of new books. "We could find new names and it would be an excellent opportunity to learn about the local culture and society."

"Ugh! Why do all your ideas involve reading!?" Snotlout yelled, dramatically slouching down in his chair. Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"A library would actually be a good idea," he said stepping forwards. "It would be full of genealogical records and historical documentation which would be perfect for names and Fish is right about learning more about this world."

"It's settled then!" Gobber said clasping his hands together in front of him. "You'll all change and we'll set off to buy you all new clothes and to head to the library."

"But reading!" Tuffnut exclaimed throwing his hands up in the air.

"Reading words!" his sister added imitating his actions. Everyone else ignored the, and all set of to shave into their new, temporary clothes.

Soon enough, the seven teens and one adult were standing in the forest outside the door to the mill in their new attire. Stormfly stared down at her bland, blue outfit in disgust. It needed colour. She would be sure of that. Gobber looked his temporary wards up and down. They all wore what the humans in this world called jeans, though they were in different washes of blue, and they each wore a t-shirt. They all wore different colours and he hoped that they fit in enough.

"There's only one more thing that you need to remember," he said as he addressed the group once more before they left for the town. He had already passed around enough money for each of them to buy their clothes. Gold was really uncommon in this world, but gratefully common on Berk. They all glanced at each other wondering what else could they possible need to know.

"Dragons don't exist here."

* * *

 **Sort of a cliffy there. What do you think of it so far? Please let me know. Reviews are greatly appreciated!**

 **ToxicGirlfriend:** Thanks so much! Please let me know what you think of this chapter!

 **darkshadey01:** It's getting there! *laughs awkwardly*

 **dreamydragonrider:** Thanks so much for the support and sorry for the long update time!

 **DoctorAllonzy:** I did think about putting Barf, Belch, Meatlug and Hookfang in as well, but then you start to loose track of the characters and I already have eight teens to keep track of. But I might add them in later in the story, maybe as mentors or something. Thanks for following!

 **Thanks to everyone that reviewed! You guys are awesome. And thanks to everyone that followed too!**

 **If you haven't already, _please_ follow, favourite and review!**

 **Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**So, another chapter. Woo!**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Dragons don't exist?!" Stormfly exclaimed shocked.

"What will happen to us?" Tuffnut asked his hands flying to his face in horror.

"Will we just slowly face away from existence?" Ruffnut continued their stupidity. Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Just because dragons don't exist here doesn't mean that we're going to die."

The twins just crossed their arms in a huff. Gobber beckoned the group to follow him and they headed off towards the town. The walk through the forest was nerve racking. No one knew what to think. The only ones that knew where they were headed were Hiccup, Toothless and Gobber.

Gobber used to bring the two Night Fury brothers to the strange world when they were younger. They did up the mill together and he used to take them into the town for a special treat the humans there called ice-cream. The two boys loved going on their trips with their 'Uncle Gobber'. They never told Stoick or Valka so Hiccup wondered how his father knew. Maybe he just knew Gobber well enough to know that he would take them.

Soon they came to the edge of the forest and to the backs of the houses. They walked along until they found a road that led into the town. After wondering around the streets they eventually came to a clothes shop.

They all walked in and immediately went separate ways, the girls looking for the women's clothes and the boys looking for the men' clothes. Stormfly quickly found her way to all the colour clothing and soon had a bundle of bright clothes in her arms.

They all met up again at the cashier who seemed greatly surprised to see a bunch of teenagers buying what looked like an entire new wardrobe each. None the less she tallied up the cost and watched amazed as the all walked out with the strange man with a peg leg and a hook for a hand, wondering if she had imagined the entire thing.

"So, did you find anything you liked?" Gobber asked as they exited the building. They all nodded and he then told them how he had asked someone where the nearest library was. He led the way through the town.

As they neared the centre they came across more and more people. They started to become more and more self conscious. They knew that these people had no reason to suspect that they were any different but it was still unnerving to be surrounded by so many humans.

When they finally reached the library they were relieved to find that it was mostly empty. Once again they all went in separate directions looking for different books. They all met up once again at one of the larger tables and sat down placing the book that they had found on the table, or in Fishlegs case, books.

They sat around flicking through pages looking for information and looking at any name they came across. They went back an forth a few times to get more books or to put others away.

Then the twins started arguing. But not normal arguing. No, the had to start arguing in Dragon's Tongue.

Dragon's Tongue was their natural language which they used when they were in their dragon forms. They couldn't pronounce the human words that they used when in human form but they could pronounce their natural sounds in both forms.

"Hey!" Hiccup whispered at the two trying to gain their attention. "If you're going to argue, argue in human." The two stopped, glancing around, and shrugged deciding to stop arguing and just elbow each other instead.

"I think I've found the name I want," Toothless said to his brother as he looked up from his book. Hiccup nodded for him to go on. "I like this one. Tyler." Hiccup smiled approvingly.

"I like it," he said ruffling Toothless hair. Toothless punched his arm and they laughed. "I think I've found mine too."

"What did you find?"

"Henry. What do you think?"

"I think it suits you," Toothless replied with a smile.

The two went back to looking up information. Hiccup found out a lot regarding what they would need to do if they were to keep up their cover. While back on Berk, younglings were taught by their parents or had a mentor for a particular job, here they went to 'school' where they were taught different things that they didn't necessarily need. If they wanted to hide in plain sight, they would need to be just like the other younglings of this world. And that involved going to school.

"Found it!" he heard Snotlout call out.

"Found what?" Stormfly asked.

"Steve," he replied with a smile.

"What's that!" Fishlegs asked confused.

"My new name," Snotlout replied with a huff. The few glanced at each other nodding at the sound of the name.

Eventually they had all found their new names and enough information to hide successfully. The names in this world were strange. On Berk, names odd, yes, but at the same time, that was their normal. Children having names like 'Fishlegs' and 'Snotlout' was very normal. Here, not so much.

Stormfly, after going backwards and forwards a lot, decided on Sarah and her brother became Frank. The twins became Rachel and Theodore, Tuffnut enjoyed saying his newly picked name way too much. And Gobber, for the few short days he would be helping them settle in, would be Gerald.

Once they left, they knew exactly where they had to go next. After all their research, well, those who had done research. Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout had quickly fallen asleep. But after all their research, they realised that school was very important and that they needed to be enrolled as soon as possible. So, they were headed to the closest school to do just that.

Once there, they found their way to the principal's office. The teens were all told to wait outside while the woman had a chat with Gerald.

Another thing that they had had to do was come up with a cover story. After realising about the twins surprisingly amazing story telling skills, they had come up with a story that wouldn't get them caught and that could explain why seven teenagers were living with a man with a peg leg and a hook for a hand.

"It's nice to meet you Gerald," the woman said as she sat down in her chair. Gobber looked sat down in the chair the other side of her desk nervously. A name plaque sat on the desk that read Mrs S Johnson. Gobber sat wondering where these people came up with their names. "I hear you're looking to enrol your children in our school. Is that correct?"

"That's exactly right," Gobber said with a smile.

"And would you mind explaining to me how you have seven children all a similar age?" The woman looked confused as she read down the list of names and ages of the Berkian younglings.

"They were adopted," Gobber replied. The curiosity on the woman's face grew and he carried on. "My wife and I could never have kids so we decided to adopt. We wanted Henry and then found out he had a younger brother and, not wanting to separate them we adopted both of them. Then we heard about Frank and his little sister Sarah and the things that they went through and we felt like they needed a good home. Then came along Steve and then the twins, Rachel and Theodore. After that we realised that we couldn't take in any more. That was years ago now though." Mrs Johnson nodded with a faint smile.

"And your wife?" she asked. "Was she not able to make it today?" Gobber feigned sadness and looked down at his lap.

"She passed on last year. That's why we moved. I couldn't bear being around everything that reminded me of her. The kids miss her too. She was a wonderful woman."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Mrs Johnson replied sadly. Of course, Gobber had never actually been married but this was the best story they could come up with. "I'll have your kids enrolled for tomorrow. Just have them come in my office before eight thirty and we'll have everything sorted."

Gobber smiled up at the woman across from him happily. "Thank you so much for your help. I'll make sure they're up bright and early ready for their first day." She nodded and the two shook hands before he stepped out of the room to find Hiccup and Toothless holding the twins as they had obviously just started fighting, while Snotlout, Fishlegs and Stormfly sat laughing behind them. They all looked up as Gobber exited the room and quickly shut up and stood away from each other feigning innocence. Gobber shook his head and smiled at the principle before wishing her a good day and ushering the younglings out of her office.

The trek back to the mill was longer than expected. They walked in silence as they realised that now that their cover story was set up and they had all that they needed, Gobber would be heading back to Berk.

Once at the mill, Gobber changed into his Berkian clothes and they each said their goodbyes, some having messages for their parents. They waved him off at the door and Hiccup decided to walk his mentor to the crack in the cliff face.

"Just keep an eye on them for me Gobber," he said as they walked alongside the river. "My dad acts tough but I know he's soft on the inside. Just make sure they don't do anything stupid while I'm here."

Gobber laughed and clapped the boy on the shoulder. He smiled as he turned to face the boy.

"Don't worry, I'll keep my eyes on them. You just think about your friends here. They're more likely to do something stupid than your parents. Keep 'em safe, alright lad?"

Hiccup nodded and the two hugged before Gobber pushed his way through the crack to get back home.

* * *

 **So I just wanted to say, I know that the odds of them speaking the same language on the two worlds are really slim and that even if they did they wouldn't write them the same, but this is fan fiction so…**

 **I really love doing the 'twins overreacting stupidly' parts. It's so much fun!**

 **ToxicGirlfriend:** Yes this is the modern world and seriously, thank you!

 **darkshadey01:** A mill! A cliffhanger! *dies* I'm sorry… I have no idea what that was…..

 **midnightsky0612:** Somewhere terrifying!

 **Dreamydragonrider:** Did I say that Astrid was Stormfly?... *wink*

 **So thanks to all the followed, favourited and reviewed. If you haven't already please do so. Reviews keep chapters coming and I love reading people's opinions and finding where I can improve.**

 **Thanks for the support!**

 **Until next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey! Sorry for the long wait! Been super busy lately but I wanted to make sure you guys have a chapter!**

 **In case you hadn't noticed, i changed the name to Dragonborn, I thought it sounded better than Shadow. What do you guys think?**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Hiccup woke up feeling groggy and annoyed. He hated getting up early. He groaned and sat up rubbing his eyes as he tried to wipe away the sleep.

As he slowly came to his senses he realised that he could hear snoring. Specifically Toothless' snoring. He looked at the bed beside him to see the mop of black hair surrounded by the white of the sheets and the pillow.

Hiccup grabbed the pillow he had just been using and tossed it at his brother's head. He heard an annoyed groan and watched as the covers were pulled up so that the black hair was no longer visible.

"Get up!" Hiccup yelled at his brother taking his pillow back, but not before whacking him on the head one last time.

" **Leave me alone** ," Toothless growled in Dragon's Tongue. When he wanted to sound angry, he resorted to growling his words. It usually worked. Just not on Hiccup

" **No. You need to get up or you're going to make us late,** " Hiccup replied sounding just as menacing when he growled. He pulled on some of his new clothes and looked at his Berk clothes as they sat in a neat pile. He was going to miss wearing them.

He opened the door to head downstairs and turned back to look at Toothless. He was still fast asleep. He shook his head and closed the door behind him. The stairs creaked beneath his feet as he descended. He could also hear noise coming from one of the rooms downstairs. The closer he got to the bottom the louder the sounds grew. He could hear people fumbling around, opening and closing cupboards. When he reached the bottom of the stairs he found Fishlegs, Stormfly, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Ruffnut all in the kitchen searching everywhere they could find space.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he stood in the doorway.

"Looking for breakfast," Snotlout said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Can you believe we bought all those clothes yesterday but we forgot to buy food?" Ruffnut asked laughing. At that they all turned back to searching the kitchen.

"You know food won't just magically appear because you're looking for it, right? If we haven't bought any, you won't find any."

"Well have you got a better idea?" Snotlout asked annoyed.

Hiccup rolled his eyes and walked over to the front door of the mill. He slammed the door behind him as he stepped out leaving a room full on confused faces. Everyone inside the kitchen glanced at each other concerned as they heard the scraping of wood followed by a loud splash and a few smaller splashes. Suddenly the door opened and slammed shut again and Hiccup stepped into the kitchen holding a large stick with seven fishes on it.

"Happy now?" he asked. They all nodded quickly and each came and collected a fish and grabbed a plate, sitting around the large wooden table that sat in the middle of the worn down kitchen. They each began cooking their fish with the dragon fire they formed in their hands. The twins almost caused an explosion and Stormfly ended up cooking their fish for them.

Then they heard a loud thump, thump, thump coming from the stairs. Hiccup turned to see Toothless stepping down with an annoyed expression on his face. Hiccup grinned and tossed the last fish at him. It hit Toothless in the face before falling into his hands. He glared at his brother before taking his seat beside him and began roasting his fish with his Night Fury plasma fire.

Once they were all done they grabbed their bags that they had set out the night before and began the journey towards the town. As they walked they reminded each other of their newly picked names so that they wouldn't slip up.

Soon they found their way through the trees and into the town. The weaved in and out of the streets until the school was in their sights. It looked different to how it had been the day before. There were buses pulling up outside unloading students, as well as other students stepping out of cars or walking in.

"Ready, guys?" Hiccup asked.

"Nope," Fishlegs replied quickly.

"Come on, bro," Stormfly said with a smile, elbowing him gently in his side. Fishlegs just huffed.

"Chickens," Snotlout muttered before he started walking forwards towards the door. They all exchanged glances before hurrying after him.

They walked up the steps and through the doors along with all the other kids their age. Fishlegs led them through the halls recalling from his eidetic memory exactly where to go. Soon they found the Principle's office and stepped inside.

"Ah! There you are!" Mrs Johnson exclaimed when she looked up from the papers on her desk. "You've made perfect time." She quickly stood up, shuffling through her papers before pulling out a few pages. She turned to look at Hiccup and Fishlegs. "So it's… Henry and… Frank. Am I right?"

"That's us," Hiccup or Henry smiled at the woman.

"Good. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that you two will be in the highest grade," she smiled as she pulled two papers out of the pile in her hand. She did really but no one was going to let her know that they hadn't been to school before. "These are your schedules. Since there's just the two of you, I've decided to keep you together in all your classes."

The two boys thanked her and began inspecting their schedules. Mrs Johnson smiled and moved over to Toothless, the twins and Snotlout.

"Tyler… Rachel… Theodore and… Steve!" They all nodded and she smiled, happy that she had remembered their names. She handed them the papers. "Obviously, you'll be in the next year down. Since there's four of you, I've separated you off in pairs. I kept the twins together, so Tyler and Steve, you two will have all the same classes." They nodded and she moved on to Stormfly.

"I'm sorry you're going to be all on your own, dear," Mrs Johnson said as she handed the girl her schedule. "But don't worry, Sarah. I'm sure you'll make some nice new friends."

"Sure! I love meeting new people," Stormfly replied with a smile.

"That's the spirit!" Mrs Johnson replied happily. "Now, I have a lot to do today, so I have assigned you each a guide. They will be in your first class and will show you where to go. They will also be able to answer any questions you might have." They all nodded and watched as the head teacher turned to the door. Once open they notice that there were four kids sat on chairs that were lined up outside the door.

"Alex!" she called and a dark haired boy around Stormfly's age approached. "You will be taking care of Sarah today. Make sure to answer any questions she might have." The boy nodded and Stormfly followed him out of the office. Hiccup watched amused as Toothless glared at the boy taking Storm away. He nudged Fishlegs who noticed and smiled.

Toothless and Stormfly had made it blatantly obvious to everyone but each how they felt. Toothless had had a crush on Stormfly since he was little and Stormfly had had a crush on Toothless for just as long. And everyone knew it but themselves.

"Marie!" Mrs Johnson called next. A girl with hair an unnatural red colour stepped into the office. She was Toothless and Snotlout's guide and they were quickly led away. Toothless looked back to his brother who offered him an encouraging smile.

Next came Jake, Ruff and Tuff's guide. He looked terrified as he walk out once the twins started laughing maniacally and rubbing their hands together.

"Astrid!" Mrs Johnson finally called when the only two left standing were Hiccup and Fishlegs. She turned to the two boys with a smile. "Just like the others, Astrid is here to answer any questions you may have. I hope you all have a good day!" And with that they were ushered out of the office and the door was slammed behind them.

"Well, as she said, I'm Astrid. It's nice to meet you!" The two boys turned to look at the girl standing before them. She had blonde hair that was braided and sat neatly on her shoulder. Her big blue eyes shone in the light from the window. She wore a red top with a brown skirt, brown leggings and red sneakers.

"I'm Henry and this is Frank. It's nice to meet you too," Hiccup replied with a smile. She smiled back and started walking down the hall. They followed and soon they were walking side by side down the hall.

"The first class is math with Mr Rickman. He's one of the nicer teachers but he really doesn't like slackers." The two boys nodded at the explanation and soon they stood before the classroom door. They walked in to see a room full of kids at desks and an annoyed man sitting behind a larger desk.

"Mrs Hofferson! Glad you could finally show up!" the man said in a sarcastic voice. Meanwhile, Hiccup was puzzling over where he had heard the name Hofferson before. He was sure it was something important.

"Sorry, Sir. Mrs Johnson asked me to get the new kids," Astrid replied pointing over her shoulder to the two boys standing behind her in the doorway.

"Ah! Well! I do apologise. Please take your seat." Astrid weaved her way around the desks and students until she came to an empty seat at the back where she plonked her bag down on the floor and sighed as she sunk into the chair. "And what might your names be?" Mr Rickman asked turing back towards Hiccup and Fishlegs.

"I'm Frank."

"Henry."

"Well, Frank, why don't you go and sit next to Sam and Henry, you can take the seat beside Astrid." The two boys nodded, Fishlegs heading to the free desk on the right side of the room and Hiccup heading to the back to sit next to Astrid.

Straight after the class started up again. The teacher started rambling on and the students pretended to be paying attention. Hiccup was trying to figure out what was going on and decided that he would go to the library later and study up on some text books so that he didn't look like an idiot.

"There were a lot of news kids today, huh?" Astrid suddenly said quietly from beside him. He smiled and turned to see her watching him thoughtfully. She grew confused at seeing him smile.

"We're all together," he replied. Her face changed into surprise at that.

"So, you're all related, like all from the same family?" she clarified.

"Sort of," he smiled finding the look on her face funny. "We were all adopted." Her jaw dropped. "Some of us are related. Like, did you see a boy with dark hair and green eyes?" Her brow creased in concentration before it softened and she smiled.

"Yeah, I remember him. He looks a bit like you."

"That's because he's my brother." She smiled and nodded. "He's like my best friend. He's a sarcastic idiot but I love him." She laughed. Hiccup smiled at the sound. She had a nice laugh.

They talked backwards and forwards between each other the whole lesson asking each other questions. She learnt about the life that he had created and he learnt about her life.

She was an only child although she had always wished for a brother or sister. She didn't have many friends and tended to spend lunch alone. She didn't usually get along well with people and was surprised at how easy she found talking to Hiccup, or Henry as she knew him. She was pretty good at sports and generally good in academics, though her parents were pushy about her having perfect grades and being good at everything. He also learned that meeting him and Fishlegs was the first time she had ever felt comfortable being around anyone except for her parents.

When the lesson was finally over the two realised that they didn't want to stop talking with each other, so Astrid showed the two boys to their next class talking to Hiccup along the way, Fishlegs joining in on the conversation here and there. Once there she left them and hurried off to her own class.

Hiccup and Fishlegs opened the door and stepped into the class. The teacher quickly had them settled down and the lesson began, this being geology. Fishlegs was actually excited about this one as he was interested in learning about the world. While they were used to a long string of islands where they lived, this world was made up of larger land masses.

Once that was over they went to the next class, then the next, and kept going until lunch. They made their way to the lunchroom and found themselves in a huge hall full of people. It kind of reminded Hiccup of the Great Hall back home, except that it wasn't dark and full of large men in beards drinking mead and arguing over who could fly the fastest. He then felt a pang of homesickness in the pit of his stomach but pushed it away as he focused on finding his brother and then making sure the twins didn't start a food fight.

"Henry!" a voice called over the crowds. Hiccup turned to see Toothless with Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Stormfly sitting at a large table with their food. Hiccup nudged Fishlegs and they approached the group and sat down.

"Hey guys," Fishlegs said as they sat down. "How were your days?"

"Awesome!" Snotlout said from the other end of the table where he sat next to Tuffnut. "We had chemistry. Mixing different colour water to make explosions is so much fun!"

"They were different chemicals, Steve, and we were only supposed to be changing the colour!" Toothless called from where he sat between Ruffnut and Hiccup.

"Do we have chemistry too?" asked Tuffnut with a grin.

"Cause that sounds awesome!" Ruffnut added laughing. The other exchanged worried glances, all hoping that they would at least have a vigilant teacher.

Hiccup looked over to his right and saw Astrid sitting alone at a table. He felt bad for her, not having any friends. He caught Fishlegs attention and motioned towards her. Fishlegs looked over to see her all on her own and nodded at Hiccup understanding his friend. He knew that Hiccup never liked seeing someone sad when he could do something about it.

"Hey Astrid!" Astrid turned to see him beckoning her over. She smiled and walked over to stand beside the table.

"Hi Henry, hi Frank," she said with a smile. "How have your classes been so far?"

"Not bad," Fishlegs replied.

"We were wondering if you wanted to sit with us, since you were all alone," Hiccup added.

"I don't want to intrude," she said quickly holding up one hand, the other adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder.

"It's ok!" Toothless said with a wave. "I'm Tyler, by the way. That's Sarah, Steve, Rachel and Theo."

"Thine name ist Theodore, peasant," Tuffnut replied with a mock posh accent.

"Shut up, dumbnutt," Ruffnut called from opposite him.

"Troll face!"

"Butt elf!"

"Knock it off, will you?" Stormfly said annoyed.

"Are they always like that?" Astrid asked as she sat down beside Hiccup.

"Yup," he nodded. "You get used to it." Astrid smiled and soon the conversation started up again.

They all talked together the whole of lunch, each about the different classes and teachers they had, Astrid giving little tips here and there for how to impress certain teachers or how to get them to like you.

Soon the bell rang and they were back to classes. Astrid had the same class as Hiccup and Astrid so they went one way while the others went their own ways towards their separate classes.

* * *

 **Not happy with the ending but oh well. I thought about doing it longer but I wanted to make sure you guys got a chapter!**

 **Astrid finally makes her appearance! Yay! Please let me know what you guys think of this chapter!**

 **AquaJinx: Sort of but at the same time not what I had planned… Does sound good though!**

 **The SkrillRider: So yes to Astrid, no to the others. I honestly did want to include them and I still might, but if I do they'll probably be more like mentors to the others.**

 **As always, follow, favourite and review. Reviews keep me writing!**

 **Until next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

**New chapter!**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

History. One of the only subjects they had had so far that Hiccup actually liked. Being the chief's son, he had learnt how much value there was in learning from past mistakes.

"And so, while he sent his military towards the invading army, a smaller group came from the opposite direction and destroyed the city." The teacher, Mr Mills finished his explanation of a battle that Hiccup honestly couldn't remember the name of. "Any questions?" Everyone stayed silent. All except for Hiccup.

"Why didn't he send out a small scout group to double check that there wasn't a second army?"

"Well," Mr Mills replied in complete shock of his student's question. "I suppose that was part of the trick, to make him think that there was only one army. He also possibly underestimated the approaching force."

"Ok, but his army was made up of men, right?" Hiccup replied.

"Yes," Mr Mills said trying to follow where the boy was going.

"So the city would have been full of women and boys who were still in training but too young to go into battle. But a small group managed to destroy the city?" Hiccup knew plenty of women who outmatched men in combat. Stormfly was one of them. And his mother struck fear into the hearts of any she fought, especially his father.

"Nowadays maybe they could have held them off but back then women didn't fight and any boys who knew how to fight would have been out matched by amy skilled warriors they tried to face." And with that he moved on, wanting to finish the lesson before the bell rang.

"I've never seen anyone stump Mr Mills before. He's used to no one caring about his lessons," Astrid said amazed.

"I enjoy studying strategy," Hiccup replied with a shrug. "It's interesting."

"You're smarter than you look," Astrid said with a grin.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hiccup replied trying to look serious but not being able to stop the laugh that escaped his lips.

"Nothing," Astrid replied looking away, her grin still present. Hiccup elbowed her gently and she elbowed him back and they then sat elbowing each other for the rest of the class.

The first day had been ok so far. They had managed to get through all of their lessons without any slip ups. But it wasn't over yet. They still had to get through gym. The class that entailed showing off physical skills. Hiccup and Fishlegs' skills weren't human. Holding back was going to be tough when Hiccup had spent his whole life pushing himself to be just as good as his father.

It all started with the changing rooms. The girls went into their changing room and the boys into another to change into the gym uniform. You wouldn't have thought that this was much of a problem, but as mentioned before, Hiccup and Fishlegs weren't normal. When a Dragonborn was born, the village elder would tell the parents what type of dragon the child would be and a mark was made with ink on their skin. Fishlegs wasn't so bad, his Boulder Class mark was on his ankle, which was hidden by the sock he wouldn't be taking off. Hiccup's Strike Class mark was on the back of his shoulder.

All eyes were on the two new kids as they followed their classmates into the locker room and selected which locker they would use. They put their bags in and took out their uniforms. Fishlegs was the first to take off his shirt and the two heard sniggering behind them. He was a big guy, it was true, but that wasn't all fat. There was quite a bit of muscle under there. But he was Boulder Class, they were normally big. They were big in their dragon form too.

The class were ready to turn away when Hiccup was about to take his shirt off. Then he took it off. And the whispers flooded the room at the sight of the large dragon symbol on his shoulder. He quickly shoved the new shirt on and turned to glare at the people behind him, who quickly acted as if they hadn't been watching all along. Soon enough they were changed and out of the changing room, but the whispering followed them along.

As they walked out of the changing rooms into the gym, the girls came out alongside them, Astrid among them. She took one look at Hiccup's frown and quickly asked what was wrong.

"Nosey yaks," was all he was all he would say in reply and wouldn't speak after that. Astrid frowned but didn't say anything.

"Alright, who's up for a game of dodgeball?" a large man with a face that was clearly set in a permanent frown called across the gym. There were a few cheers but mostly groans. "Tough luck!" he replied and started calling out teams.

"You any good?" Astrid asked Hiccup. He tried to think of the best answer but the look on his face clearly said it all. "You've never played before have you?" He shook his head and she sighed. "Just try not to get hit and if you can catch the ball with both hands straight on, do it."

"Got it," he said before quickly passing it on to Fishlegs. Fortunately, the three of them ended up on the same team.

As the two teams lined up opposite one another the room went silent. Until the teacher blew the whistle, and then yelling erupted followed by the screeching of shoes scraping across the glossy floors. Balls started flying in all directions and the three did their best to avoid them. Until Hiccup's hearing picked up something that should never have been said in the first place.

"Aim for the fat one. He's a big target and no one cares if you hit the new kid," someone whispered from the other team. Hiccup hated people being mean to others without even knowing them. As the ball went rocketing towards Fishlegs, Hiccup was suddenly in front of it ready to catch it. He glared so hard at the person who threw it that they visibly paled. He turned towards Fishlegs and handed him the ball.

"Would you like to do the honours?" he asked, knowing that Fishlegs would have heard everything that he had.

"Don't mind if I do," he smiled. Soon the ball was hurtling towards the thrower at such a pace that they couldn't get out of the way fast enough. The two friends high fived and the rest of the lesson no one said a word.

Now done with the lesson, their team having won with only Hiccup, Fishlegs and Astrid left standing, the two boys changed quickly in a silent changing room and exited as fast as they could. Astrid was there to meet them on the other side. They said their goodbyes and headed outside where they met the others and began the walk back to the mill.

"What is the point of all of this?" Hiccup asked Fishlegs as they sat on the grass in the forest looking through text books and trying to understand how to do trigonometry and to name the different parts of different types of cells.

"I have no idea, but I don't want anyone to think I'm stupid," Fishlegs replied absentmindedly rubbing his hand across the sleeve of his favourite tunic he had quickly changed into to remind him of home.

"Same," Hiccup said flicking over to the next page.

They spent their afternoon reading, as they sometimes did together back on Berk. Toothless and Snotlout decided to have a friendly spar using some wooden training swords Snotlout had managed to sneak past his father. Stormfly was watching, well, watching Toothless and ignoring Snotlout as much as she could. The twins hadn't played with fire for a few days and had decided to sit creating small explosions, with a few buckets of water sitting beside them at the ready.

All in all they had a good afternoon. By the evening, they were all ready to lie down and all quickly headed up to their beds and were happy with the feeling when their heads hit their pillows.

"So we have to do this everyday, five out of seven days a week?" Toothless asked as the two boys turned out the light and snuggled under their blankets.

"Yup," Hiccup replied already half asleep.

All that Toothless replied with was a groan. Not that his brother heard. Nor did he himself remember. For they had both fallen asleep.

* * *

 **So, what do you think? Sorry it's not too long, though it's more pf a filler then anything else. Hopefully it will start to kick off a bit more in the next one.**

 **What do you guys think of the dragon class mark? Thought it was a nice touch but I want to know what you guys think.**

 **Ninuhuju:** I love them too! The main ships in this will be HiccupxAstrid and ToothlessxStormfly but I may add others as the story unfolds.

 **An Amber Pen:** Thank you. I think...

 **The SkrillRider:** I'm trying!

 **Please follow, favourite and review.**

 **Reviews keep me writing!**

 **Till next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Woop! New chapter! I promise you that this story is starting to het somewhere. This chapter and the next two really get it going.**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Read on!**

* * *

The next day was slightly easier to start as the knew what they were getting into. Toothless was still grumpy as anything about being woken but he got up. They all found it easier to walk through the double doors surrounded by the other students. And as they headed off to their separate classes, it didn't seem as daunting as it had the day before.

"Hey Henry. Hey Frank." The two boys turned around to see Astrid behind them.

"Hey Astrid," Frank replied with a smile. The three of them then headed off to their first class walking together through the hallways.

"And this week you will be receiving an assignment!" The class was flooded with groans as the teacher wrapped up the lesson. Mrs Smith rarely gave assignments but when she did they usually had a short time frame. "You're assignment will be on the classification of plant life. I want proper examples and I want it printed. I will not spend hours trying to decipher your sloppy handwriting when I don't have to." She paused to pick up a sheet of paper that sat on her desk. "You will also be working in pairs."

Everyone began glancing around hoping they could work with their friend. Hiccup only hoped that he and Fishlegs wouldn't be paired together. While he would like to be with his friend, all of this was still very new to them and he hoped that they would be paired with someone who actually knew what they were doing. Mrs Smith began reading off the list and some people seemed ecstatic to be working with one another and others seemed less pleased.

"Frank," she began and Hiccup hoped it wouldn't be him. "You'll be with Alfie." Hiccup and Fishlegs both shared a look. They had both been thinking the same thing and they both seemed relieved .

"Henry you will be working with Astrid." The two looked at each other and smiled. They might actually enjoy this. They both got along well enough.

The rest of the lesson was free time to discuss meeting arrangements and how they would go about the project. Frank was quickly found by Alfie and they began introductions. Hiccup was soon found by Astrid and the two easily fell into comfortable conversation.

"Ok so, let's start with the easy thing. Meeting. My house or yours?" Astrid asked taking out her pad.

"Do you really think mine is a good idea?" Hiccup deadpanned.

"Right," Astrid replied nodding. "Big family. Mine it is. Do you want me to write down the address for you?" Hiccup nodded and she scribbled the number and street onto a piece of paper before handing it over.

"Thanks," Hiccup replied looking over the paper in his hand.

"Or…" He looked back up to see Astrid with a thoughtful look on her face. "We only have a few days so why don't we start today. You could come with me after school. I'll text my mom and tell her I've got company for a project and she'll basically leave us be." Hiccup thought it over. It would probably be best to get it over and done with, and if they had to meet up anyway, which day wouldn't make much difference.

"Ok," he smiled. "Sounds good to me."

"Great!" she smiled happily. Just then the bell rang and the two decided that if they didn't see each other for the rest of the day that they would meet outside the school when it was finished.

The two didn't end up seeing each other again until the end of the day. They had no more classes together and Hiccup spent the whole of the break in the library. He had studied how to interact with people in school but he had no idea how to interact with them in their house. Where there customs in this land that differed from his own? He had no idea but he decided to find out. In the end all he could find was that it was polite to remove shoes at entry and that when it was a first visit, it was polite to make a nice comment about the house, and about the food if here is any.

Hiccup said goodbye to Toothless and the others at the front door at the end of the day. Fishlegs wished him luck and made him promise to tell him everything since he too would be going to his project partner's house. Hiccup watched the group walk off towards the forest where the mill was as he went over what he would say in his head.

"There you are! I haven't seen you all day!" he heard from behind him. Turning around he saw Astrid running down the steps to join him.

"Sorry, I had to go to the library in the break," he said as she stopped beside him.

"Were you looking for anything in particular?" she asked as they started walking.

"No," he lied. "Just fancied a quiet place to study." He hated lying but was finding it easier the longer they were in this world.

"You really like to study, huh?" she commented with a laugh and an elbow nudge to his side.

"Not really," he replied. "I just don't like not knowing. I understand that I'll never know everything but I like to try my hardest to learn as much as I can."

"That makes sense, I guess." She stared forwards in thought.

"You're pretty smart too though," Hiccup added quickly. "You must study a lot too."

"Yeah," Astrid replied slowly. "But only cause of my parents. They want me to be the best at everything."

"I get that," Hiccup replied. "I always try to do my best so that my father could say that he's proud of me." That was a truth. "But I guess I'll never know." That was a lie.

"I'm sorry. Here's me rambling about my parents when you… Yeah. I'm sorry." Astrid said realising her mistake.

"It's ok," Hiccup replied with a reassuring smile.

"Well that's my house, anyway," Astrid said stopping. She pointed to a small white house on the other side of the street. She picked up the pace as she crossed the road, Hiccup close behind, and jogged up the three steps to the front door, digging her key out of her bad and placing it into the lock. She pushed the door open to reveal a small entryway with coats and a few shoes beside the door. She quickly hung up her coat and Hiccup did the same. He was about to take his shoes off, as he had read that that was the polite thing to do, but Astrid stopped him.

"No need to take your shoes off. Unless they're covered in mud they're not exactly going to make a huge mess anyway," she said with a smile. "My mom has always said she couldn't see the point in taking off shoes just because you walk into a house."

Hiccup smiled and nodded, pulling his shoe back over his heel and standing up. He couldn't understand taking shoes off in the house either. On Berk, no one did that. Though, with floors made of rough wood that gave you splinters and the cold, harsh environment, taking off warm, thick shoes was just asking for trouble.

He quickly followed her into a room of the right which turned out to be a sitting room. The two sat down on the sofas and began pulling their books out of their bags. Then the door opened and a woman who held a few of Astrid's features walked in with a plate of cakes that smelled amazing.

"I thought I heard you come in!" She exclaimed as she stepped fully into the room. The placed the cakes on the small coffee table that sat in the middle of the room. "I was just baking some cakes, I thought you might like to sample a few."

"Thanks Mum! This is Henry, by the way. Our biology teacher assigned us a project this morning."

"It's nice to hear that you're getting a head start on your project. And it's nice to meet you Henry. Now I won't interrupt you anymore. I'll be around if you need me." And with that she left.

"Do you want one?" Astrid asked gesturing to the cakes. They looked like small round buns with a shiny glaze on the top.

"Sure, I'll try one," Hiccup replied with a smile. They both reached out and grabbed a cake. Though as soon as he bit into it, Hiccup immediately thought of home. The cakes tasted the same as the ones they usually had for Snoggletog. He always looked forward to Fishlegs' mother Thyra's Snoggletog cakes. He could never eat his own mothers, she couldn't cook to save her life. But Thyra was the best baker on the island.

"They're really good," Hiccup said as he finished his.

"I know right!" Astrid replied with a laugh. "It's her secret recipe. So secret, she won't even tell me."

The two laughed before realising that they needed to get started on their project. They opened their bools and started discussing their assignment, making notes along the way. They laughed a lot more than they worked but they got some of it done.

"How's it coming?" Mrs Hofferson asked as she walked back into the room.

"We're getting there," Astrid replied trying to hold back a laugh.

"Were you thinking of staying for dinner?" Mrs Hofferson then asked turning to Hiccup, who had not been expecting this question but realised just how hungry he was.

"I don't want to be a bother," he replied politely.

"Nonsense! I've made enough for four. If you want to stay, feel free!" And with that she walked out of the door.

"Come on! You can stay for dinner right?" Astrid asked him with a shove. He smiled and nodded and she grinned. They got up off the sofa and she led him through to the dinning room which was attached to the kitchen. At the head of the table sat a man with Astrid's eyes. There was a plate in front of him and three other plates were set around the table. Mrs Hofferson then walked in with a tray with four fished on it that had been roasted and placed it in the middle of the table. They all then sat down, Hiccup waiting to see where the others would sit before he picked the last chair.

"Honey, this is Henry," Mrs Hofferson introduced Hiccup. "He and Astrid have an assignment together and I invited him to stay for dinner."

"It's nice to meet you, sir," Hiccup added.

"Well it's nice to meet you too, Henry," Mr Hofferson replied with a smile. "So how's the project going? All finished?"

"We're almost done but we've still got a bit more to do," Astrid replied.

The family then all reached out and grabbed a fish each bringing it to their plates. Hiccup seeing the last fish he supposed was his reached out and put that on his own plate. He watched as they all started picking apart the fish with their fingers and eating each small bite. It reminded him of home. This is how they always eat fish. Roasted over a fire and then picked apart and eaten by hand. He smiled as he joined them, not noticing Mrs Hofferson's surprise at his actions. She had forgotten to bring out the cutlery as they usually did when they had a guest. But he had just joined in without a word. She shook her head and went back to eating her own food.

Over dinner the two parents asked Hiccup a few questions which he answered with half truths as he usually did. They mostly asked about his family and so the cover story was told again. He laughed and joked around with Astrid a bit as they told of a few funny things that had happened in their classes. In the end all four of them were laughing together.

Eventually the time came for Hiccup to leave. He grabbed his bag and books from the sitting room and said goodbye to Mr and Mrs Hofferson. Astrid walked him down to the front door where he put his jacket back on and stepped outside the door.

"So I'll see you tomorrow then," Astrid said as she stood in the door.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow," Hiccup replied with a smile and a wave. She waved back and slowly shut the door. He grinned as he walked away, a giddy feeling filling his stomach.

Hiccup went back to the mill and walked up the stairs, falling face down on his bed. Toothless, who sat on his own bed, looked up as he walked in.

"Hey Hic, how was your assignment?"

"It's mostly done but we still need to finish it," Hiccup replied, though his voice was muffled by the pillow. "I have another problem now though."

"What's the problem?" Toothless asked sitting up a bit and leaning towards his brother. Hiccup lifted his head and looked at Toothless.

"I think I'm falling in love with a human."

* * *

 **Hey! So what do you think? Finally did another longer chapter. Yes! And I haven't done a cliffy in a while so, tadaaaaa!**

 **Ninuhuju:** That was the idea. Also planning a scene where Astrid finds out about it.

 **crazed ragdoll:** Thanks!

 **Nightfurylov3r:** He is a half dragon so…

 **Anonymous Noob the 2nd:** Thanks!

 **An Amber Pen:** We'll see what happens. Thanks!

 **StrongMan20:** Don't worry. That'll come out.

 **Sarnakh the Sunderer:** Don't worry, I have plans…

 **Thanks for all the reviews.**

 **If you haven't already, please follow, favourite and review.**

 **Until next time!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey people! Yea this is an update. Fast, huh? I had a long bus ride with nothing to do so…**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Read on!**

* * *

Hiccup looked up into his brothers curious eyes.

"I think I'm falling in love with a human."

Toothless expression changed from curious to concerned as he sat up in shock.

"You _what_?!"

"I don't know what it is, Tooth," Hiccup sighed. "But whenever I'm with her I feel happy and she's so easy to talk to!"

"No," Toothless replied quickly. "This is not happening. She's human, Hiccup! It's just wrong. You have to get over this."

"How?" Hiccup asked feeling hopeless.

"Try to forget about her," Toothless replied.

"That's easier said than done," Hiccup said slumping down. "I mean, what of I told you to get over Stormfly?"

Toothless opened his mouth before closing it again with a thoughtful look on his face. He opened it again holding up his finger, before looking away confused and eventually shrugging.

"Ok, you got me there. It's easier said than done," he admitted. "But this still isn't right. Maybe the library will have a book that will help."

"Yeah. Right," Hiccup deadpanned.

"Whatever happens, we'll deal with it tomorrow." Toothless lay back down on his bed and rolled over. Hiccup did the same, turning out the light.

The next morning the two boys were up and ready before the others, which was a first for Toothless. The brothers went downstairs, leaving a note for the others and heading out of the door. Toothless was going to spend the walk trying to pep talk his brother in how to avoid her.

"Tooth, I still have to finish this assignment. I can't just ignore her."

"Ok, but you can after. So get this project done, and then avoid her as much as you can."

Hiccup nodded. As much as he hated having to do that to Astrid, he knew it was for the best. A human and a dragonborn together was a terrible idea. And when he left, it's not like she could go to Berk with him. She would never get to know the real him. Hiccup. Only _Henry_. A person who didn't even exist. So as much as it would hurt, it was for the best.

Hiccup managed to avoid Astrid most of the day. They only sat together in two classes, neither of which they had that day. He turned up at each class last and was the first to leave.

Hiccup met up with Toothless just before lunch as the younger brother wanted to know how his day had gone so far. They walked into the lunch room together only to see that Fishlegs had invited Astrid to sit with them. She was having a conversation with Stormfly and the two seemed to get along well together. Toothless quickly steered Hiccup around and pushed him towards the library.

"Well that was unexpected," he said as they sat down. He then suddenly stood back up again. "Actually, this is the perfect opportunity to look for any books that could help!" And with that he disappeared, ignoring his older brother's calls for him to come back. When he did return he was holding a book with a successful look on his face.

"Here you go," he said putting it down on the table in front of Hiccup. "A book on how to get over someone."

"Yeah," Hiccup said looking the book over. " _How to Get Over Someone in 6 Months_ ".

"Oh," Toothless said looking at the book before pushing it out of the way. "Well that's no good. We'll have to just stick to the 'avoiding her' plan." Hiccup just sighed as he listened to his brother talk the whole way through lunch.

After school, Toothless said goodbye to his brother offering a few last words of advice. Hiccup just nodded and waved him off. He stood and waited for Astrid in the same place he had the day before.

"Henry!" He turned around to see Astrid run over. "Are you ok? It felt like you were avoiding me all day! And then you didn't even come for lunch!"

"Sorry, I wasn't avoiding you on purpose," Hiccup lied. "And I spent lunch with Tyler in the library helping him out with his homework." And a half truth.

"Oh," Astrid replied looking down sounding embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

"It's ok," Hiccup replied. Seeing her upset twisted his stomach but he would ignore that. Seeing her smile at his words twisted it again, but in a good way, and he quickly pushed that feeling aside.

They walked to her house quieter than the day before. Once they were inside Hiccup followed Astrid's actions as she hung up her coat. They both headed into the sitting room and took their books out of their bags as they sat side on the sofa.

Mrs Hofferson came in to say hello. She asked him if he would be staying for dinner. He politely apologised but replied that he needed to head home as soon as they were done. She told him to send her regards to his family and left the room.

They worked through their assignment, finishing it off. And then they carried on talking. They talked as they finished off the cakes Mrs Hofferson had brought them. They talked as they put their books away. They kept talking, not noticing the they had both moved closer to each other. Or that they were both subconsciously leaning in. Astrid looked down for a second before looking back up to be face to face with Hiccup. Talking stopped as they both leaned closer and closer. They could feel each other's breath on their faces.

And then Hiccup realised what was going on and pulled back cringing. Astrid looked a bit shocked and confused. She also looked slightly embarrassed. Hiccup just shook his head gathering his things.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this."

He fast walked towards the door, grabbing his jacket but not putting it on, and walked off down the road. He never noticed Astrid get up and follow him.

Ignoring her coat, she raced out of the door just in time to see him disappear behind a corner. As she reached the corner she saw him head around the next corner and followed him again. She followed him until she saw him walk into…the forest?

Confused, Astrid followed Hiccup through the trees as fast as she could trying to catch up. But he always seemed to stay ahead of her, only just in her sight. And then he was gone. She looked around trying to see where he went, but she couldn't see him. She looked back and realised that she had no idea where she was. Or which direction was home. She brought her hands up to rub her arms, feeling cold without her jacket. She picked a direction and started walking. Hoping that it was the right one.

After a while she heard something in the distance. She cautiously walked forwards hoping that it would be someone who could help her but keeping her guard up. Her eyes widened as she saw what it was was. Or rather, who it was.

Just ahead of her stood a man with untamed black hair and a large black beard. He wore armour across his shoulders and chest and brown boots. His hand rested on the hilt of a sword which was attached to his belt. On his head was a helmet with two horns sticking out either side. He was the exact picture of a Viking. Se stared in shock until she realised that he had noticed her.

"You! Where are they?!" he yelled in an angry, rough voice.

"Who?" Astrid asked, afraid of his violent reaction.

"The devils! Where are they?" He moved closer.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Astrid replied stepping back only to feel the bark of a tree push into her back.

"Don't lie to me, lass. I know you know!" the man said taking a step forwards and pushing his sword against her neck. It was sharp.

"I'm not lying!" Astrid practically screamed. He growled digging his sword further into her neck. It was getting hard to breathe and she clenched her eyes shut in fear. Her hands felt like they were burning and some instinct took over waking her pull up her hands. She could see a light shining from behind her closed eyelids and opened them to see a bright crackling light coming from her hands. It scared her and the fear made her let it loose. It hit the man and sent him back with an explosion. He groaned on the floor. She looked at her hands. Had she just done that?

* * *

 **Oh my goodness! What just happened?! Another cliffhanger?! I love doing this. It's so evil.**

 **Eragonfan33:** Thanks! And don't worry. All Hiccstrid and Toothfly.

 **DinoBoy13:** Here it is!

 **Themissinglink:** Thanks!

 **crazed ragdoll:** Or has he….

 **An Amber Pen:** Yes!

 **theatizona:** And this confirmed it even more?

 **RUBYJEMS:** Mhm…

 **Anonymous** Noob the 2nd: Soon! I promise!

 **TheWindwalker:** Yay! Enjoy!

 **Thanks all for your reviews! Keep them coming! Let me know what you think.**

 **If you haven't already, please follow, favourite and review!**

 **Until next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello! Sorry it took a while but it is here! I apologise that this chapter is mostly conversation, but it's important conversation and it's all worth it for the ending.**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Read on!**

* * *

Astrid stared down at her hands in shock. Her hands that had just held a warm, crackling, bright light. Her hands that had managed to fire that light at the angry Viking looking man that had attacked her. The man that was now standing up.

"You're one of them!" he yelled in anger, his sword pointed in her direction. She tried to answer but no sound escaped her mouth. She stood frozen with her back pressed against the tree and her hands in front of her feeling utterly confused and completely terrified.

The man had almost reached her when they both heard rustling in the leaves of the trees around them. The man stopped his advance to look around, his eyes narrowed and his grip on his sword tightened. Then something fell down from the tree above them, landing just in front of Astrid. As it stood up, Astrid could make out a figure. Then she recognised the clothes and the hair and realised that it was _Henry_! She wanted to warn him, to tell him to run, that the mad man had a sword but before she could, he spoke.

"Hey, I remember you! We met at that raid about a month ago where I kicked your ass!" Astrid was completely shocked. Why wasn't he afraid? The man had a sword! Why wasn't he running?

The man clearly didn't like his words, because he charged forwards, sword raised. Astrid watched as Henry shifted one leg back and raised his hands in front of him just in time to catch the sword. She was expecting it to cut clean though and had opened her mouth to scream, but the only noise that escaped was a surprised gasp when she saw the purple blue glow that emanated from his hands that was somehow holding off the sword. She could see the man pushing down with all his might and Henry holding him off with all his strength, until he suddenly let go and side stepped so fast that the man didn't realise what had happened until Henry's boot hit his chest and he was flying through the air and then across the ground before smacking loudly into a tree and slumping down unconscious.

Astrid stared at the man with so many thoughts running through her head she didn't know which one to think about first. Then she felt someone grab her by the shoulders and she looked up to see Henry's concerned face.

"Astrid, are you ok?" She stared at his worried eyes for a few seconds before looking away and blinking a few times.

"Y-yeah. I-I think so. But, but what was _that_?! What just happened?! Who was that?! What is going on?!" She looked up at Henry again only to notice that he wasn't looking at her. He was looking down clearly in thought and his lips were moving as if he was speaking. She quieted so that she could hear him. She was confused to hear him repeating her surname.

"Hofferson… Hofferson… Hofferson… _Hofferson_!" he finally finished looking up into her eyes. "Astrid. I really need to talk to your parents. I promise I'll explain everything that just happened but I really need to talk to them."

Astrid was so confused as to what was going on that she just nodded slowly and let him lead her away, barely noticing that the man who had been unconscious by the tree was now gone. Her mind was reeling, thoughts were whirling around like a tornado in her mind as she tried to order them. As she walked alongside Henry, who she realised she now knew nothing of and could she really believe anything that he had told her?, her hands moved up to rub her arms in the cool air. She then felt warm fabric around her shoulders and turned to see that Henry had given her his jacket. Now she was even more confused.

"Why did you give me your jacket?" Good guys gave girls their jackets. Not liars!

"Because you're cold," he answered simply. She really didn't know what to say.

"B-but… Who are you?! You just fought a guy with a sword and you're acting like it was nothing!"

"Look, Astrid. I'll explain everything once I've spoken to your parents." Astrid glared at him only to see that he wasn't looking at her but at where they were going. She looked down at her feet as they crushed fallen leaves. She felt bad for yelling at him but he wasn't telling her anything!

"Thanks for lending me your jacket," she said quietly. He looked at her and smiled and it twisted her stomach. After all that had happened she had forgotten why she was in the forest in the first place. She had come to apologise for scaring him off. Why had she tried to kiss him? That had been a stupid idea. But hadn't he leaned in too? Why _had_ he run away? She was so confused. And all the questions about what had just happened were not helping.

Soon enough they reached the edge of the forest and Henry led her back to her house. Once there she stepped up with the keys and they walked down the hall to the kitchen where her parents were.

"Oh, hello Henry. I though that you had to leave to get back to your family," Mrs Hofferson said as they walked in. Henry nodded.

"I just came to apologise," he replied. Astrid looked at him confused. So did her parents. What did he need to apologise for? I never properly introduced myself. My full name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third." Now Astrid was extremely confused. She glanced at her parents and was surprised to see that they weren't. Her mother seemed nervous and her father had tensed up.

"You're Stoic's boy," he said. Henry, or _Hiccup_ , nodded. "Astrid, do you mind stepping out for a moment." Now she was even more confused, if that was even possible.

"No! I want to know what's going on!" She was not going to back down.

"Honey, we'll explain everything after, just please. Give us a minute." Her mother was so softly spoken and her voice trembled slightly. It scared her a little and she found herself nodding and stepping out of the room.

Inside the room, Mr Hofferson looked at the boy in front of him and sighed. "How did you find us?"

"It wasn't on purpose. My dad sent us here after my brother got hurt in the last raid hoping we'd be safer. I've been trying to figure out why the name Hofferson was so familiar ever since I met Astrid."

"Well I want to know why my daughter is demanding we explain. What happened? I thought you were just doing homework!" Mrs Hofferson exclaimed. Hiccup nodded and sat down on one of the stools that sat around the kitchen island. Mr and Mrs Hofferson did the same.

"I had to leave and didn't realise Astrid was following me. Me and the others have been staying in a house in the forest. I was on my way there when I heard something. I followed the sound and found a scout. The humans must have seen Gobber bring us here and sent someone after us. Anyway, I was leading him in the wrong direction when I heard him start yelling. He'd seen Astrid and was holding up against a tree. I was about to intervene when she fired a shot at him."

"No wonder she's asking for answers," Mr Hofferson said shaking his head.

"What have you told her?" Mrs Hofferson asked quietly.

"Nothing," Hiccup admitted. "That's your job. She deserves to hear it from you." The two parents nodded. "I just have one question." They nodded again. "Why did you leave?" The looked at each other before Mrs Hofferson answered.

"Just after you were born, I went to see your mother. She was so happy and I was so excited that soon I would have Astrid. While I was there, a raid started. Me being pregnant and Val having just had you, we stayed there in her room waiting it out. I looked at your mother as she sat holding you as close as possible and I realised, I didn't want to go through that kind of fear with my own baby. I talked it over with Sigurd that night. We both decided that we would stay here until Astrid was old enough that we wouldn't worry. But that day never came. Now I just don't think that they'd accept us back after we've been such cowards."

"Of course they would!" Hiccup exclaimed surprising them both. "My dad and all the other parents agreed to send us all here to be safe. That's exactly what you did!"

Sigurd looked at his wife and they both nodded. Maybe they could finally go back. Now that they had to tell Astrid. Maybe she would want to visit their home. Maybe they could just stay.

"You say all the other parents," Mrs Hofferson began the conversation again. "Who else had kids?"

"Well, from our particular age group there's me and my brother, the Jorgenson's son, the Ingerman kids and the Thorston twins."

"The Thorston's had twins!" Sigurd exclaimed with a laugh. Mrs Hofferson elbowed her husband and he quieted. "Sorry Ingrid, but I can't imagine the Thorston's with twins. Zippleback?" he asked Hiccup.

"Zippleback," he nodded. "The most mischievous Zippleback there ever was."

"What are you?" Sigurd asked grinning at the thought of the Thorston's dealing with a mischievous Zippleback.

"Night Fury," Hiccup answered earning wide eyes from the couple in front of him. "So is my brother."

The room fell into silence before Sigurd and Ingrid looked at each other and nodded.

"I think it's time we talk to Astrid," Sigurd said looking towards the door. Hiccup nodded.

"I'll go and tell her to come in. I'll let myself out."

"No," Ingrid said causing Hiccup to turn around with confused eyes. "Please, stay for dinner. We'd love to hear about how Berk is doing. We left a long time ago. I'm sure some things have changed."

"Ok," Hiccup said with a nod. "I'll tell her to come in and then I'll wait in the sitting room."

He walked out of the kitchen and found Astrid in the sitting room scowling as she sat in an armchair with her arms crossed. She looked up as Hiccup entered the room.

"Do you want to know what's going on?" he asked. Her eyes widened slightly and her arms lowered to her sides.

"Of course I do. Light erupted from my hands and hit a Viking who you then fought," she said angrily.

"It wasn't light, it was fire, though your parents are waiting in the kitchen to explain everything. It'll all make sense soon. Just try to keep an open mind."

Astrid looked at him with narrowed eyes trying to figure out if he was being serious or not. In the end she just got up and stormed into the kitchen where her parents sat looking nervous.

"What is happening? Because I am so confused right now, I feel like I know nothing."

"That's because you don't," Sigurd said with a sigh. "And that's our fault. We should have told you from the start instead of waiting."

"Honey, this might sound a little strange," Ingrid began. Astrid remembered what Hiccup said about keeping an open mind. "But we're not human." Astrid just stared blankly, not sure of what to say.

"Our kin are called Dragonborn," Sigurd continued. We're not from here. We come from another world, from a village called Berk." The parents remained silent letting their daughter think things over.

"You expect me to believe I'm from another world. That I'm not human." Hiccup's words to keep an open mind rolled around her head but she pushed them aside unable to comprehend what was happening. "That's the kind of thing you read about in stories."

Sigurd and Ingrid looked at each other and sighed. Sigurd held out his hand and it was ignited with fire. Astrid's eyes widened as she stared at the flames that sat in her father's palm.

"How did you…" She found herself without words.

"There are different types of Dragonborn and each one has a different type of fire. When in human form we can use our fire through our hands." Sigurd then shrunk the flame in his hand and began to pass it between his fingers.

"Wait," Astrid said holding up her hand. "You said 'when in human form'. Meaning there's another form?" She felt even more confused than she had when they hadn't told her anything. Ingrid looked a little hurt, as if she had hoped that Astrid would be more open. But how could she when they were talking utter nonsense?

"We're Dragonborn. We're technically half human, half dragon. We can switch between the two."

Astrid stood staring at the kitchen worktop with wide eyes. Dragon… Dragon… _Dragon!_ The word rolled around in her mind as she tried to understand what her parents were thinking.

"Dragon? Seriously? You expect me to believe I'm something that doesn't exist?!" At the sight of the blank expressions on her parents' faces, Astrid stormed out. She couldn't take all the nonsense any more. She needed air.

As she passed the sitting room, Hiccup looked up to see her annoyed and confused expression. He got up just in time to see her disappear out of the door. He turned to look at the kitchen and saw Sigurd and Ingrid in the door looking upset. He quickly raced after her, following her as she headed into the forest, and caught up to her not too far away from the treeline.

"Astrid," he said softly. She turned around with an angry expression.

"Why? Why _me_? Why do I have the weird parents trying to convince me that I'm something that doesn't exist?"

"Astrid," he said again slowly. "I know you don't want to hear this, but everything that they're telling you is the truth."

"Right," she replied sarcastically. "A person turning into a dragon is the truth."

Hiccup looked at her with a calculated gaze. She was a little worried. The look sent shivers down her spine. Then he looked down and sighed. He closed his eyes in what looked like concentration, and then she wasn't really sure what happened next. All she knew was that there was suddenly a black dragon sitting before her where Hiccup had once been. Then it hit her that it was Hiccup, and suddenly she didn't know what to say.

" **Please don't freak out** ," he said in growls and warbles that she was somehow able to understand.

"Oh wow. Oh wow. I… I…" She began pacing beck and forth confused as to the whole situation.

" **I said not to freak out** ," Hiccup said rolling his eyes. He changed back into his human form, the way that she knew him and stepped towards her.

"How was I able to understand you?"

"You're a Dragonborn. It's a natural instinct to understand dragons. You _are_ one."

"How do I know you're not lying to me?" Astrid asked shaking her head.

"I would never lie to my own kind," Hiccup replied, his voice soft and calming. She felt her nerves calm in a way she knew that her parents would never be able to achieve.

"That never stopped you before," she replied looking up into his forest green eyes.

"I'm sorry about that," he said looking down as if ashamed. "At the time, I thought that you were human and if I had known I would have told you the truth about me from the start."

"Well tell me the truth now," she said as she took a step closer towards him so that they were so close to each other that they were almost touching. "Why did you run?"

"Because I knew that eventually, I had to leave." He knew exactly what she was referring to. The kiss they had almost shared that he had run away from. "I didn't want to hurt you when you woke up one day and found that I was gone without a trace because I had to go back to my home world. _Our_ home world."

"So if you had known all along then you would have kissed me?"

"You have no idea how much I wanted to," he replied looking down into her sky blue eyes.

"Good," was all she said before she leant forwards planting her lips on his and sending him into daze of ecstasy.

* * *

 **So… What do you think? Conversation is a lot harder to write than you'd think, especially when you want it to end a certain way and there's a few different people. It can get a little difficult but I think I succeeded. But I don't know! I want to know what you think!**

 **DinoBoy13:** Because it was the best way I could think of to reveal her…

 **acw28:** Good guess. But no. Sorry!

 **Retrokill:** Of course not! What would this story be if Astrid was normal!?

 **Nightfurylov3r:** They will go back soon, don't worry. You don't like Astrid?

 **Sara lovelymusic:** It would be so much easier if they could! It also would make the story kinda boring at this point though.

 **Eragonfan33:** Thanks!

 **An Amber Pen:** This answer your question?

 **night fury kid65:** Ya….

 **Anonymous Noob the 2nd:** Tada!

 **Anonymous:** While that would be funny and I have laughed at the scenario that appeared in my head, I'm afraid that I already have a plan. Sorry! But thanks for the idea! Let me know of any more you have!

 **Thanks guys for all the support. You're all awesome!**

 **If you haven't already, please follow, favourite and review.**

 **Until next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hallo! I be alive! Thanks for all the encouragement from the last chapter. You guys are awesome. I put in a little something nice for Hiccstrid fans at the end. *Winks***

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Read on!**

* * *

Hiccup and Astrid walked through the forest towards her house, his arm draped across her shoulders as she leaned into his chest. They walked in comfortable silence as the kiss from moments ago played through their minds.

"Was anything that you told me the truth?" Astrid asked, cutting through the silence.

"As much as I could," Hiccup replied with a nod. "The rest was half truth, half lie."

"So, is Tyler really you're brother?"

"He is. Though his name isn't Tyler, it's Toothless."

"Toothless?" Astrid asked turning to stare at him with narrowed eyes.

"Yes," Hiccup said looking into her sky blue eyes. "My brother and I are the kind of dragon. We're called Night Furies. One distinguishing feature that we have is retractable teeth, hence, Toothless."

"Ok," she said, stifling a laugh. "So, if you're real name is Hiccup, and Tyler's real name is Toothless, I'm assuming that those aren't the other's real names either."

"Right," Hiccup replied. "Steve is actually my cousin and his real name is Snotlout."

"Snotlout? Seriously?" Astrid asked stopping in her tracks and bringing her hand to her mouth to stop the laugh that threatened to escape. Hiccup didn't even bother hiding his laugh.

"Yeah, but we don't really get along very well, so I just call him Snotface." The two laughed for a while before they carried on walking.

"So what about the others?" Astrid asked.

"Frank's real name is Fishlegs and his sister Sarah's real name is Stormfly, and the twins are Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Rachel being Ruffnut and Theodore being Tuffnut." Astrid listened to his explanation carefully, trying to remember the names she heard. Thinking about the strange names they were given made her think about the place that they were from. She had just learned that she was apparently from another world, and yet she knew nothing about it.

"What about the place where you're from? Where we're from?" she asked cautiously, correcting her mistake at the end. He smiled at that and she realised how much he must be missing his home.

"It's very different from here," he started. "Dragonborns come from an island called Berk."

"An island?" Astrid asked her curiosity peaked.

"Yeah. It's mostly forest but there's a few nice beaches if you know where to find them. And there's a lot of caves hidden around too."

"Are there many towns?" Astrid asked, which she believed was a valid question. She knew of several islands that she had studied about in Geography that ver covered in towns. But no matter how valid she thought her question was, the small snort of a laugh that Hiccup let out told her that it was a silly question. But he never said so.

"No, there's only one. It's the kind of village where everyone knows everyone. You can't walk down the street without at least one person stopping to talk to you. Oh, and there's no school there."

"No school?" Astrid asked, her interest in the place becoming greater the more she heard about it. "So what do you do?"

"It's the parents' job to teach their children. Our parents teach us all we need to know, and the rest I guess we learn on our own. We spend most of our time exploring."

"You mean like exploring the island?" Astrid asked, the idea of wondering an island all day with her friends sounding a lot more interesting that going to school to learn things that she won't ever use again.

"No, I mean like exploring all the islands. We're part dragon, Astrid. We can all fly."

Astrid didn't know what to say to that. Everything was still sinking in. She wondered about what her parents would want to that she knew, would they want to go back home? Would the want to stay in this world? If they did go back, would she go with them? What if she didn't like it? What if she was terrible at being a dragon? Although a thought at the back of her mind scolded her for being so stupid. How could she be terrible at being what she was born to be? Even so, she had no idea.

"You're wondering about what you#re parents will say now, aren't you?" Astrid looked up at Hiccup as he spoke. His eyes seemed a little hurt, as if he had heard her whole thought process. "You're afraid that if they choose to go back, you won't like it." She looked down ashamed.

"It's not that," she said slowly. I mean, it is, but it's also, what if I'm not good at being Dragonborn? My parents will be so disappointed in me. I'm a Hofferson. Hofferson's don't fail." Hiccup pulled her close and she instinctively wrapped her arms around his waist.

"If you don't like it, you can always come back," he reminded her. "And about not being good at being a Dragonborn, I'll show you everything you need to know." She looked up at him with wide eyes.

"You'd do that?" she asked. He nodded and kissed her forehead. It caused butterflies to scatter through her stomach. She smiled and they carried on walking back to her house.

They stepped into the house, Astrid leading, and found Sigurd and Ingrid in the dinning room. They looked up in surprise and relief as they saw her enter. When Hiccup followed they looked to him with gratitude.

"I'm sorry for storming off," Astrid said looking down. "I should have trusted that you were telling the truth."

"It's ok," Ingrid smiled sadly. "It was our fault for not telling you from the beginning."

"I guess I'm just scared," Astrid admitted sitting down in a chair beside her mother. "This is all so new, I don't really know what to think at the moment."

"Well we talked about it," Sigurd replied looking at his wife before turning back to Astrid. "We know you have a life here and so if you really want to you can ignore everything and carry on as if nothing is different."

"No, I can't just ignore a part of who I am," Astrid said, causing her parents to look up in surprise. "I don't want to. I feel like I don't know you, or me, anymore. But I want to get to know you. I want to find out who I really am."

Sigurd and Ingrid smiled proudly at their daughter. Hiccup stood in the doorway smiling. He took a step back and went to leave when Ingrid took notice of him.

"And where do you think you're going?" she asked firmly.

"It felt like you were having a family moment," Hiccup replied. "I didn't want to intrude."

"Nonsense!" Ingrid called out across the room getting up and walking over to where Hiccup stood. "You promised that you would stay for dinner. And the last time that you were here I didn't know I was feeding the chief's son, so this time I'll do things properly." She grabbed Hiccup's hand and dragged him to the table, forcing him to sit down. Astrid was mostly hung up on the 'Chief's son' part.

"Please don't treat me any different, Mrs Hofferson," Hiccup replied with a groan, but remembered to keep a polite smile on his face.

"You're father used to say the same thing," she laughed. "Your mother always enjoyed being pampered every now and then, but your father hated it. Wanted to be treated just like everybody else."

"Leave the boy be," Sigurd laughed, clapping Hiccup loudly on the shoulder. It sounded like it hurt and Astrid was sure he would cringe in pain, but he only laughed along as if he were used to it.

Dinner went by quickly and loudly. Sigurd and Ingrid had so many questions for Hiccup about their old home, Astrid had no idea how he managed to answer them all. She listened intently to the replies he gave, amazed at some of the stories he told of events that had happened since they had left. The most interesting one she heard was the story of how a man named Gobber somehow managed to loose both his arm and his leg in the space of a week thanks to dragon hunters. The thought unnerved her a little. The idea that some humans hunted her kind just because of what they were.

Once dinner was over, Hiccup said goodbye and Astrid left her parents cleaning to walk him to the door.

"Are you ok?" Hiccup asked as he stood on the step and she stood just inside the door. "You were fine until halfway through the meal and then you looked kind of scared."

"It's nothing," Astrid replied, not wanting to upset him.

"Tell me," he said, giving her a look that told her to open up. She sighed.

"It's just, you kept talking about people getting injured, seriously injured, like loosing limbs and then there's dragon hunters and I'm just, scared. When you spoke about Berk earlier I could tell that you love it there, but I don't know if I'm up to living that kind of life."

Hiccup nodded in understanding. She was grateful he didn't laugh at her feelings. He just listened carefully to what she had to say.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" he said. She was a little surprised but told him that he could ask her anything. "Do you ever get a feeling like you want to do something dangerous and exciting for no reason?"

Astrid thought about the question. It was true sometimes she got a feeling that urged her to do something spontaneous and dangerous that would get her adrenaline pumping in excitement. She nodded slowly.

"You're a Dragonborn," Hiccup replied with a soft smile on his face. "It's a part of who you are. You just don't know it yet." He turned to leave and began descending the steps when she called him back.

"Wait!" He turned back to look at her his expression asking why. She ran down the couple of steps to close the gap between them and grabbed the collar of his shirt pulling him down so that she could kiss him. It was only quick and she pulled back only for him to pull her closer and deepen the kiss. She melted into the kiss, her arms locking behind his neck and his arms snaking around her waist to pull her closer than she thought possible. As they pulled apart she felt breathless but couldn't help the grin that made it's way to her face. His smile looked more mischievous.

"Until tomorrow, milady?"

"Yeah," she breathed, still trying to regain her breath. He slowly let go, though she could tell it was hard for him. She wanted the moment to never end. She watched him walk away feeling the tingling sensation that stayed on her lips and her hips where his hands had been. As she walked back into the house, her grin never left.

Hiccup felt the same. He grinned the entire way back to the old mill. He snuck in, making sure that no one saw him, and slipped into the dark room where his brother was fast asleep. He was about to slip into bed when the light turned on. He looked up to see that his brother had not actually gone to bed.

"What happened to doing the project and coming straight back?" he hissed quietly, making sure not to wake the others. Hiccup stood for a moment trying to figure out what Toothless was talking about. Then he remembered the night before and that morning. It felt like so long ago. So much had happened.

"I finally realised why Hofferson sounded so familiar," Hiccup replied. Toothless stared at him, looking both confused and angry.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Hofferson was the name of the couple that disappeared a few days after I was born. I remember dad telling me."

"And?" Toothless asked looking frustrated.

"Astrid is their daughter," Hiccup replied simply. Toothless just stared at him for a second before realisation kicked in and his face changed to surprise.

"So she's not human," he said eventually. Hiccup nodded.

"Astrid is a Dragonborn."

* * *

 **So… What do you think? Please let me know. This was another 'I want the conversation to end this way and it's tough trying to get there' kind of chapters, like the last one. But I did it!**

 **Nightfurylov3r:** Then sorry but this story is mostly Hiccstrid with some Toothfly thrown in.

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 **:** And here it is.

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	12. Chapter 12

**Hello, people! I bring you another chapter!**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Astrid is a Dragonborn."

Toothless just stared at Hiccup.

"This changes everything," he said slowly, his eyes widening. "If she's not human, then you can ask her out! Don't worry, Hic. I'll think up a plan." He grinned proudly at his brother. Hiccup just shook his head.

"I don't need your help," Hiccup replied. He still hadn't stopped smiling, but it seemed that Toothless hadn't noticed.

"Don't be silly! I want to help!" Toothless exclaimed.

"Tooth, I honestly don't need any help," Hiccup assured his brother. Toothless narrowed his eyes. He finally noticed that Hiccup hadn't stopped smiling the entire time he had been back.

"You kissed her, didn't you?" he said his eyes narrowing even more. When Hiccup didn't answer but his smile grew, Toothless' eyes widened. "You kissed her?!" He had forgotten that the others were sleeping.

"Who kissed who?" Snotlout asked, running into the room with Stormfly, Fishlegs and the twins behind him.

"Hiccup kissed Astrid," Toothless said crossing his arms. Hiccup's smile finally faded now that he was surrounded.

"You kissed a human?! Gross! Hiccup! Why would you do that?!" Tuffnut exclaimed, his face showing how disgusted he was. The others all looked shocked. How could he kiss a human? That was like the ultimate betrayal to his own kin.

"She's not human," Hiccup replied. Just like Toothless, they all stared at him with confused looks on their faces. And then they all realised. All except for the twins.

"If she's not human, then what is she?" Ruffnut asked.

"Is she a troll?" Tuffnut added.

"No, you muttonheads," Stormfly replied. "She's a Dragonborn. I just don't understand how."

"None of you will remember because it was before any of you were born. I only know because my father told me. Her parents are the Sigurd and Ingrid Hofferson. They disappeared a few days after I was born. Ingrid was pregnant at the time, with Astrid." They all stared at Hiccup. If what he was saying was true, then there was another girl their age that should have been their friend all along.

"Does she know anything about Berk?" Toothless piped up from where he sat on his bed.

"She found out today," Hiccup replied. "So it's our job to teach her everything she needs to know." The others all looked at each other excitedly. It wasn't often an opportunity like this came around. "Just try not to scare her," Hiccup added as he remembered who his friends were. They nodded and all left to go back to their beds. Hiccup turned out the light and lay down.

"So you're not going to tell me anything?" Toothless asked in the darkness.

"Nope," Hiccup replied grinning to himself. Toothless could hear his smile in the way he spoke and scowled.

"Oh come on! Was it short? Was it long?"

"When you ask Stormfly out, then we'll talk." Toothless scowl deepened. He crossed his arms and lay on his back and didn't say another word.

The morning came and the atmosphere in the mill had changed. They kept giving Hiccup knowing looks and he kept waving them off. They all headed out to school and pestered Hiccup for details the entire way.

Hiccup sighed in relief when they all went their separate ways. As he walked along with Fishlegs, he talked about the scout that he and Astrid had met the day before.

"Do you think they have any idea where we're hiding?" Fishlegs asked nervously.

"No. I was leading him in the wrong direction when he came across Astrid. But it wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't long before they send another scout." Hiccup and Fishlegs shared a worried look. If they were found by scouts then the humans would send a small army to kill them. They were only a few. It wouldn't be like a raid on the village. They would be completely outnumbered.

They walked into their first class and took their separate seats. It was one of the classes that they shared with Astrid. She walked in and found her seat next to Hiccup.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Hey," he replied. They sat awkwardly together, neither knowing entirely what to say.

"I spoke to my parents more since last night," Astrid finally broke the silence. "My mom keeps trying to find ways to make going to Berk sound exciting."

"Oh really?" Hiccup replied smiling. "And what is she saying?"

"Well she told me a few things you left out. Like the incredible views of the sunsets, the fact that it's normal to see people walking around with axes and the whole racing thing. That sounds like fun." She turned to see Hiccup grinning to himself. She couldn't help but think about how cute he looked.

"Did she explain the rules?" Hiccup asked looking up at her.

"Oh you mean the whole 'catching sheep for points' thing?" Astrid laughed. "Yeah. She did. I didn't believe her at first but when I finally realised that she was being serious, I realised how fun it sounds."

"I feel sorry for the sheep," Hiccup put in. "I'm pretty sure they think we're trying to kill them." Astrid laughed but quickly quieted as the teacher walked in.

The class went on as any other and soon it was over. Astrid went off to her next class while Hiccup and Fishlegs went to theirs. They soon met up again at lunch. Hiccup sat with Fishlegs on his left and an empty chair on his right. Next to the empty chair sat Stormfly. Snotlout sat across from Fishlegs and next to Toothless who sat next to the twins. Astrid soon walked up holding a tray.

"Do you guys mind if I sit with you?" she asked slowly.

"Why do you think we saved you a seat?" Toothless asked pointing to the empty chair beside Hiccup. Astrid wasn't expecting his reply and seemed a little shocked but smiled happily. She sat down and began eating. No one really knew what to say. Hiccup was about to ask Toothless about his classes when Snotlout decided to speak up.

"So I take it that you two had fun yesterday," he said wiggling his eyebrows with a sly grin on his face. Astrid seemed a little shocked.

"You told them?" she asked Hiccup.

"No," he replied. "I told him," he pointed to Toothless, "and he decided to yell it out in the dead quiet in the middle of the night."

"I'm sorry!" Toothless replied holding up his hands defensively. "I had just heard that my brother kissed the girl he told me he was falling in love with."

"You said that?" Astrid asked turning to Hiccup, her face full of surprise. His hand went to rub the back of his head.

"Yeah," he said with a nervous laugh. "I did."

"That's sweet," she said with a smile. He was about to reply when the bell rang reminding them that they still had classes. They went their separate ways but promised to meet up later.

They all met outside the school afterwards and began walking to the mill together. Now that they were away from the town, Astrid felt more free to ask them questions about themselves. She found out that Fishlegs was training to become a strategist like his father and that Stormfly was learning about being a seamstress from her mother. She found out that Snotlout and the twins enjoyed a game they called 'cow tipping' and that Hiccup hated it because he was usually the one that had to clean up their messes.

Snotlout was bragging about how he was a great warrior and the fastest flyer on the island. Astrid glanced at Fishlegs knowing that as a strategist, he would surely know who the fastest flyer was. He shook his head and she nodded. But now she wondered who it was. She mouthed 'who?' and he nodded towards Hiccup.

Really, she shouldn't have been surprised. She had asked her father about the kind of dragon Hiccup was. He told her all about Night Furies, nicknamed 'unholy offspring of lightning and death itself' by the humans. They were fast and they never missed. She had felt a little afraid at first, but then she remembered how sweet he was. From what she had heard, the humans on their world attacked without researching first. They saw an island full of people who could turn into dragons and decided that they were monsters.

Astrid was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of running water. She looked up to see that they were approaching a building that sat on the side of a river. As they got closer she saw that it was an abandoned mill.

"You've been living here?" she asked her eyes widening. "It's falling apart."

"On the outside!" Tuffnut replied.

"But on the inside…" Ruffnut finished. They opened the door and she stepped inside. She was surprised to see how nice it looked on the inside. Clearly someone had remodelled the inside but left the inside looking a wreck.

"You can leave your things in here if you want," Hiccup said putting his backpack down on the table in the dinning room. Astrid did the same. "We're going to the clearing," Hiccup said to the others who all waved him off and turned to do their own things.

He walked out of the old building with Astrid close behind and headed off back into the forrest. A few minutes later they were sat on the ground opposite each other with their legs crossed.

"So what are we going to do first?" Astrid asked nervously.

"First we need to figure out what kind of dragon you are," Hiccup replied with a thoughtful look on his face. Somehow that made Astrid even more nervous. Was he going to make her shift forms? She wasn't ready for that.

"Relax," Hiccup said, clearly sensing her slight mental breakdown. "Each dragon has a different kind of fire. All I need you to do is create a flame in the palm of your hand and I should be able to tell."

She still felt nervous. He could tell. He took her hand in his and held it out, palm up. He was so gentle, it was calming. She slowly felt her nerves settle and took a deep breath. He smiled and she felt her stomach twist, in a good way.

"First all you need to do is concentrate," he said slowly. "Somewhere deep within you is, sort of a core," Hiccup began trying to think of the easiest explanation. "Once you've found it, using it is easy. But finding it is the hard part. It's not so hard in dragon form because it's more natural, but in human form you're going to have to really concentrate."

"How do I know when I've found it?" Astrid asked unsure of what exactly she was looking for.

"Trust me. You'll know when you find it." Understanding that this was the only answer she was going to get, Astrid nodded and closed her eyes. She dug deep trying to feel something that resembled any kind of core. It was strange, trying to find something in her body. Trying to find something that had been there all along but that she only knew of now.

And then she found it. She knew she was right because it was the same sensation she had felt before fire exploded from her hands when the Viking attacked her the day before. It felt so foreign and yet at the same time, so familiar. She opened her eyes to see that Hiccup had not moved. He still held her hand and he was watching her in a way that showed his concern. She nodded and he understood.

"It feels hot? Like it's burning?" he asked. She nodded and he smiled. "Good. Concentrate on the heat and try to move it through your body. Move it up to your shoulder, down your arm and into your hand." She followed his instructions and soon her arm felt like it was on fire. But somehow it felt nice. It was oddly calming and she found herself not really wanting the feeling to end.

Once the heat reached her hand, her body somehow knew exactly what she wanted it to do. Fire began to form in the palm of her hand. It wasn't like normal fire though. It reminded her of a firecracker. It was sparking and spitting in her hand. She sat staring at it, amazed that she was actually doing this. She was actually holding a ball of crackling fire, that she had created in the palm of her hand. Hiccup sat forwards taking a closer look. Soon he looked up at her and grinned.

"It seems we have another Deadly Nadder."

* * *

 **So what do you think? I guess Astrid being a Nadder was going to be kind of obvious.**

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 **Until next time!**


	13. Chapter 13

**I have returned! This took longer than it should have. Didn't have much time to write.**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Looks like we have another Deadly Nadder." Hiccup was grinning and Astrid felt herself filling with excitement.

"A Deadly Nadder?" she asked. Deadly? She liked the sound of that.

Hiccup's only response was to reach into his pocket and pull out a small notebook. She could immediately see from the way it was made that it was from Berk. He opened it up and flicked through a few pages before passing it to her. She stared in amazement at the drawing in front of her.

The drawing was of a dragon. The dragon was fierce looking, covered in spines. It had only two legs and stood with it's wings held high. There were sharp spikes all the way down it's spine and it had a sharp, whip like tail. It reminded Astrid of a bird, if birds were fire breathing, spine covered reptiles.

"That's actually a drawing of Stormfly," Hiccup said breaking her from her thoughts. She looked closer at the picture and somehow recognised her. Her dragon form was amazing. She wondered how she could possibly turn into that.

"So this kind of makes things official, huh?" Astrid said. It at least felt that to her.

"Not really," Hiccup replied rubbing the back of his neck. "It's only the elder who can make things official."

"The elder?" she asked confused.

"The elder of the village," Hiccup said nodding. "No one really knows how old she is. But she's very wise. When a baby is born, she is the one who tells the parents what sort of dragon they will be. She then marks their dragon class somewhere on their body."

"Dragon class?" Astrid asked. She thought that she was finally getting the hang of all this Dragonborn stuff, but Hiccup kept reminding her of how little she truly knew.

"Different types of dragons are separated into different classes. Nadders, for example, are Sharp Class."

"And Night Furies?"

"Strike Class." She found herself wondering what it looked like, and what exactly he meant by 'mark'.

"D-do you mind if I see it?" she asked, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks. She hoped he wouldn't notice. He looked a little shocked at the question, running a nervous hand through his hair.

"Ok," he replied, his hands dropping to his sides where they gripped the edge of his shirt and lifted it up over his head. Her cheeks were definitely red now, along with the rest of her face. She had to stop herself from staring at the perfectly shaped muscles on his chest and stomach.

He leaned forwards slightly and she caught sight of something on his shoulder. She scooted round so that she sat behind him and finally saw the large mark on his shoulder that reminded her of a tattoo. It was a dragon wrapped around itself with its wings out slightly at the back. She recognised it as a Night Fury. She traced her hand slowly over the skin, her fingers tingling like they were full of electricity. She looked up to see Hiccup watching her.

"It's amazing," she whispered looking back down and tracing the mark again. "You're amazing." Their eyes met and she hadn't realised how close they had gotten until he was kissing her again and she felt fireworks in her chest. Soon enough she was sitting on his lap, his lean chest underneath her hand. She couldn't get her brain to work properly. All she could think about was Hiccup. Eventually they pulled apart to breathe and sat panting staring into each other's eyes.

"Should we get back to my lesson now?" Astrid asked eventually. Hiccup nodded.

"Good idea."

Astrid quickly got off his lap and they once again sat opposite each other. The lesson began again, but neither of them could concentrate. Hiccup was trying to help Astrid get used to the feeling of accessing her fire. Slowly she started to get the hang of it, but with their now unfocused minds, progress was slow.

Eventually he could see that she wasn't going to do any better while they were together and decided that that was enough for one day. He laced his fingers with her's as they began the walk back to her house. He was wary of any more scouts. He knew that they wouldn't just send one. He didn't want her walking back on her own for fear of getting hurt. She didn't mind. It meant she got to spend longer with him.

After she had collected her bag and said goodbye to the others, and Hiccup had explained what he was doing, they began on their way. The edge of the forest came to soon for the both of them and they found themselves slowing down, walking so slowly that they were barely moving.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" Astrid asked. He nodded and let go of her hand. She took the opportunity to grab hold of his collar with both hands and pull him in greedily for another kiss. He was happy to return the kiss and soon the two of them stood helplessly in each others arms, holding onto each other like lifelines.

"I need to go," Astrid whispered, reluctantly pulling away. All she heard was a groan from Hiccup. He hadn't let go of where his hands held onto her waist.

"Fine," he grumbled. "But only because I don't want to get into trouble with your dad." She laughed as she he let her go and she took a sad step back.

"Bye, babe."

"Babe?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and a cheeky grin. She just rolled her eyes and walked off. "Bye milady!" She heard him call from behind her. She just shook her head and walked off back home, her body still tingling where his hands had been.

* * *

 **Sorry it took so long and sorry it's such a short chapter. I really wanted to write this scene but didn't want it to be part of the last or next chapter. Hope you enjoyed the fluff.**

 **A few people have asked about Heather and Windshear. I don't think I'll be putting then in. I don't know why but I really don't like Heather. I honestly don't know why. If she is in it she'll probably be Dagur's sister.**

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 **Thank you all for your lovely reviews. Please let me know what you think of this one. The next one should have some pretty cool action in it.**

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 **Until next time!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry that I've been silent for so long. I was on vacation and had terrible internet access, but I was still able to write. So now I'm posting everything that I wrote. Enjoy!**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Read on!**

* * *

Astrid stared wide eyed at the weapons laid out before her. There was a sword, an axe, a mace, a hammer and a bludgeon. She stood in the kitchen of the mill, the weapons all laid across the kitchen table. All her new Berkian friends stood around her waiting for her to pick which weapon she wanted. She honestly had no idea. She had never thought that she would ever have to fight in her life.

"Maybe try picking one up?" Fishlegs suggested after she had been silently staring at them for a while. She nodded slowly and moved to pick up the sword. It felt comfortable at least. It was Toothless' sword. It had good grip and wasn't too heavy, but somehow, it just didn't feel right.

She looked at the hammer and the bludgeon but couldn't bring herself to even pick one up. She didn't want to fight with a weapon so clumsy. She looked at the mace but wasn't so sure about that one either. The only one left was the axe. She picked it up and felt it in her hand. Like the sword, it had good grip and wasn't too heavy. Except this time, it felt good. There was something about it that just felt right. She smiled and saw by the looks on their faces that the others understood.

"Stormfly, do you mind if we borrow your axe for some training?" Hiccup asked. Stormfly gestured for them to go ahead and walked out along with everyone else. Astrid just shot Hiccup a questioning look.

"You didn't think we were going to just hand you a weapon without showing you how to use it, right?" Hiccup laughed. She smiled and followed him out of the room. He went to a cupboard in the hallway, reached in and pulled out an axe, then gestured for her to follow him. "We'll be in the clearing if you need us," he called out.

"I'll come get you for dinner," Toothless called back. Hiccup nodded and they left the mill and headed into the forest.

They soon found the clearing that they had been in the day before. Astrid felt her cheeks burn as she thought about it. Soon enough though, all of that was forgotten, as Hiccup began teaching her how to use the axe she had picked. He stood beside her showing her how to hold it. Once she had the grip right, he began correcting her stance.

"If your centre of gravity is off, it makes it easier for your opponent to knock you over or push you back," Hiccup said as he positioned her feet and pulled her shoulders back straightening up her spine. "Now, there are many ways to fight. Most back in our world like to use force. Like Snotlout, that's his favourite tactic. Me, on the other hand, I prefer to outsmart my opponent. What his moves, find his weaknesses, then finish. Right now though, I'm just going to show you some of the basics. Keep you from dying."

For the next few hours he showed her a few different moves that would mostly just help her leave a fight in one piece. He started with defence moves, saying that in the beginning, defence was the most important thing. If you can't defend yourself, you're dead. Once she was successfully able to defend herself agains some of his attacks he began showing her a few offensive moves. Nothing too complicated, just a few things to help her push someone back.

"These are just basic," he told her as he stopped to help her reposition herself for a new move. "These will not let you take on an opponent all by yourself. They're just so that you can stay alive until someone else comes to help you. Don't go around starting fights. Try to avoid them as much as possible and stay on the defensive. Only go offensive when they're pushing you too far back." She nodded, hoping that she would remember everything that he had told and shown her through the day.

Suddenly he stopped what he was doing. He looked up with his eyes narrowed. She noticed his grip on his axe tighten and he suddenly turned around, standing in front of her defensively. She peered over his shoulder to see a man much like the one she had seen only a few days earlier. He stood with a sword in hand glaring at them, his eyes full of hatred. He wore a brown tunic with an armoured breastplate and shoulder pads. He wore black trousers with brown boots. His hair was red and he had a short beard with one braid right in the centre of his chin. On his head sat a helmet with horns on either side. He and Hiccup stared at each other, each one waiting for the other to make the first move.

The man moved first, he charged towards them, his sword raised high. Hiccup pushed Astrid back slightly as he brought his axe up to block the attack. He pushed hard against the man causing his to push down harder on Hiccup before suddenly jumping to the side. He was so quick that the man had no time to reposition his feet and fell forwards. He was was about to land on his knees when Hiccup kicked his feet out from under him causing him to fall flat on his face. Hiccup then used the butt of the axe to knock him out. He grabbed the man's sword and turned to face Astrid who was surprised at how fast Hiccup was able to disarm the man.

"That is why you need to know your centre of gravity," Hiccup said pointing to the man as if the whole thing had just been a demonstration for her. "If he had a better stance, he would never had fallen over." She nodded. She didn't really know how else to reply to that. She was just a little shocked at the fact that there was now an unconscious man lying in the ground.

Just then they heard a rustle in the bushes. Hiccup took a step in front of Astrid, and she took a step closer to him. They watched with wide eyes as a man, similar to the one that lay on the floor, stepped out of the bushes. In his arms he held Toothless, a knife to his throat. The man glanced down at the man that lay in the floor and his face hardened.

"Olvir?" When Olvir didn't answer he looked at Hiccup with an angry expression. Hiccup went to take a step forwards but the man immediately reacted. He pulled Toothless back a step and his grip on the knife turned white. "Make another move and he dies."

Astrid then watched as Toothless looked directly at Hiccup and winked, blinked twice, then winked again. It was so fast the man clearly didn't notice, but Hiccup did. He gave a slight nod and Astrid realised that they must have some sort of code between them.

Suddenly, Toothless bit the hand that held the knife and the man yelled in pain, his focus and grip on Toothless lost. Toothless rushed out of his grip and ran to Hiccup's side. The man now looked infuriated. He rushed them, Hiccup meeting him half way with a clash of metal. The man fought with a sword and his knife, Hiccup with his axe and Olvir's sword.

"Nobody hurts my little brother," Hiccup said through his teeth at the man. They fought for a while, Astrid watching in amazement at Hiccup's skills. Soon enough though, the man was knocked down and just like his friend, Hiccup knocked him unconscious.

"Are you okay?" Hiccup asked turning towards Toothless.

"I'm fine," Toothless replied, waving him off. "He just caught me off guard is all. I was on my way to fetch you for dinner when he jumped me. He must have heard me coming and hid in the bushes. I had no idea he was there." Hiccup nodded and ruffled his brother's hair, earning him a scowl in return.

"What was that thing you did with the blinking?" Astrid asked curiously.

"You saw that?" Toothless replied. She nodded.

"We came up with out own code when we were kids," Hiccup said. "It's mostly just code for plans that we came up with. We used it when we were trying to escape our parents. They still don't know how we always knew what each other was going to do without speaking. I think they think that Night Furies are able to read each other's minds." Toothless laughed and they began walking in the opposite direction to the mill.

"Where are you going?" Astrid asked as she watched them walk off.

"We need to leave a trail going in the wrong direction for when they wake up so they don't follow us," Toothless replied. Astrid nodded. She followed them as they walked lightly but left a footprint or a broken twig every now and then for the men to find.

* * *

The doors to the great hall were thrown open. Stoic walked though, a trickle of blood on his forehead, his hand massaging a sore spot on his shoulder. He was followed by the other men on the council. The all took their seats and turned to Stoic to see what he would say.

"We haven't suffered from a raid that badly in years," he said slowly. The men nodded in agreement. "Birger, have the humans strengthened their defences?" All attention was on the large strategist at the end of the table. He fidgeted knowing what he had to say would not go down well.

"Well, sir, the humans seemed to be the same as the last time," he answered cautiously.

"But we had more casualties! How can that be?!" Spitelout out exclaimed. Stoic gestured for Spitelout to calm down before nodding towards Birger to carry on. He nodded and cleared is throat nervously.

"I believe our problem is the young ones," he said simply.

"But they were all sent away," a man named Mulch, who was on the council as the fisherman's representative, said confused.

"Exactly," Birger replied. "I think we underestimated how much we used them. Fishlegs tried to warn me before they left. He was right. Hiccup is one of our best flyers and Snotlout and Stormfly are a great help to their individual classes. The twins destructive capabilities alone probably could have cut down our amount of losses substantially. And I didn't realise how much I had come to depend on my son. Fishlegs is a great help to me in keeping track of how the battle is going. Stoic, I know you don't want to hear this, but sending them away was a mistake."

Stoic remained silent. Those around him sat quietly waiting for his response, glancing at each other. Finally he sat up straight and turned to Gobber, who sat beside him.

"Gobber. Go find our kids. Bring them home."

Gobber nodded and was up immediately. He rushed straight out of the door and through the forest. Soon enough he reached the crack in the cliff, but also found something else. A camp. A human camp. And it was empty. His eyes widened in realisation as he saw the footprints of about thirty men heading towards the crack.

He broke into a run as he raced for the village. He dodged and weaved surprised villagers as they began work on fixing houses. He rushed straight up the stairs to the great hall and slammed the doors open, panting as he did.

"Gobber. Where are the kids?" Stoic asked.

"Camp… Footprints… Crack…" he panted out, bending over as he tried to catch his breath. He then looked up into Stoic's eyes as he said the last word. "Humans." Stoic's eyes filled with panic.

"No…"


	15. Chapter 15

**Flip did this chapter take a long time to write. I hope you enjoy it.**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Read on!**

* * *

Hiccup stood beside Sigurd outside the door to the mill. To their right Ingrid was teaching her daughter a few tricks she had learned over the years with an axe. To their left, Toothless and Snotlout were having a sparring match while Stormfly and the twins were cheering them on. Fishlegs was keeping score as usual. Hiccup was proud to see his little brother was winning.

"Did you learn anymore of the scout that you saw a few days ago?" Sigurd asked as he watched his daughter and wife with a proud smile on his.

"Yesterday we came across two more," Hiccup replied grimly. Sigurd's smile dropped.

"How far away were they?" he asked.

"Closer than the first one," Hiccup replied. "I don't understand how. I was in the process of leading him in the wrong direction when he came across Astrid. I'm a little worried now. They're getting closer." Sigurd's mouth was set in a straight line. The two looked out over their friends and family and sighed knowing that it wouldn't be long.

"Maybe you should go and tell your father," Sigurd said trying to be helpful.

"It would never work," Hiccup replied confusing the man. "They'll be guarding the crack. One or two people alone will get caught, and we can't all go. And even if we did, we don't know how many there are. There could be enough to catch all of us. And if they are getting closer, who knows how long it will be until they come."

Sigurd watched the boy in front of him carefully. He could see a lot of Stoic in him. He looked a lot like his mother in appearance, but his personality reminded him of his father. He was sure that Stoic must be proud of the young man he was growing up to be. Then he noticed Hiccup's face turn confused.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I think I hear something," he said quietly, almost as if to himself.

"What?" Sigurd asked, straining his ears to listen.

"I think I hear footsteps. They're treading quietly, as if the don't want us to know that they're coming."

"I hear it too," Sigurd replied. The two looked at each other, their faces pale.

"Humans!" Hiccup yelled out just as the men broke through the forest's edge.

Snotlout and Toothless immediately took on defence as they were already holding weapons from their spar. Ingrid stood protectively in front of her daughter. The others came running to the house where Hiccup and Sigurd were already waiting with their weapons. They then ran into the fray of humans to help their friends who were already fighting. Hiccup and Sigurd fought back to back, each facing a tough opponent of their own.

"I know about what's going on between you and my daughter," Sigurd said as he dealt a painful blow to the human before him.

"You do?" was all Hiccup could think to reply as he kicked one human in the stomach so that he fell on the one behind him.

"I like you, Hiccup. And you seem to make Astrid happy," Sigurd added as he pushed back against a blow to his chest. He finally broke free of the sword clash and carried on. "Ingrid likes you too."

"Thank you, sir. It's an honour to have your blessing," Hiccup replied knocking a man out to his right while kicking a man to his left.

"Although," Sigurd said dodging a blow to his head. "If you hurt her I will not hesitate in giving you serious injuries."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Hiccup replied.

The two then carried on their fight, trying to push back the enemy forces. But soon it became to much. There were just too many humans, and too few of them. The humans began pushing them all towards the mill, cornering them with their backs against the wall. Looking across he could see that Ruffnut and Snotlout had lost their weapons and were being protected by Tuffnut and Toothless, but they were struggling against so many foes. Ingrid was mostly protecting Astrid to the other side but he could see that Astrid was swinging her axe when she saw an opening.

With their backs to the wall and so many humans closing in, Hiccup was beginning to wonder whether they would even make it out alive. They were all struggle under the pressure of the amount of humans around them.

Just as he was starting to loose hope and the humans were staring to look victorious, their eyes shining in mirth, a cry broke out behind them. The colour faded from the faces of the humans as the ones towards the back turned to see what was happening and came face to face with a group of angry parents. Hiccup grinned as he saw his parents leading the charge, Gobber by their side. Now with them outnumbering the humans, the fight didn't last so long. Soon enough, the humans were all unconscious on the ground and the teens looked across to see all their parents.

Astrid watched the reunion in confusion until she realised that the people her new friends were all running to looked quite similar to her friends. Then watching the way the embraced made her realise that these were their parents. She smiled at that. She knew that they missed them, even though they wouldn't say. She turned to see that her own parents had come to stand next to her, but they didn't look as happy. They looked more anxious than anything else. She followed her father's gaze to see that he was watching Hiccup's exchange with a large man with a great red beard.

Hiccup stood straight as his father approached. He wasn't sure what to say or do. They had just had to basically come and save them. And he was in charge. He racked his brain for something to say. Something that would make everything okay. But nothing came to mind.

"Hey dad," he said eventually, just letting words flow and hoping that they ,add any sense. "I know that you left me in charge and it was my job to keep them safe, and I did the best that I could. I tried to lead the humans away but they-" He wasn't able to finish as the great man that was his father wrapped him up in a hug that almost choked him to death. "Dad. Air!" he managed to let out. His dad let go.

"Sorry," he said. "I just… I'm sorry I sent you away. I know now that it was a bad idea. Both you and Fisher tried to warn us but we didn't listen. I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

"Of course I forgive you, dad," Hiccup replied, a little surprised that his father would think any different. "But only if you can forgive me for not being able to keep them safe from the humans." His fa her looked at him with an expression that silently asked if he had lost his mind.

"You've done nothing wrong , Hiccup. There was nothing you could have done to have prevented this. I'm proud of you for having held them off for as long as you did."

"Really?" Hiccup asked, surprised.

"Really," his father said.

Astrid had watched the whole exchange in surprise. She could hardly believe that this was Hiccup's father. There wasn't much in common between their looks. Now that she was looking, she noticed that they both held themselves the same. Back straight and head held high, but there was nothing else from their appearance that struck her as being the same.

"Dad," Hiccup said gaining his father's attention again after they had both been distracted by Valka pestering Toothless about his health and what he had been eating and whether he had been washing properly. "I think that there's someone you need to see." Stoic's looked at his son confused before seeing who Hiccup was pointing to. His jaw immediately dropped.

"Sigurd?" he asked as he walked closer.

"It's good to see you again, Stoic." Astrid could see that her father had tensed up. He was clearly not looking forwards to this exchange.

"It's good to see you again, old friend," Stoic said, his grin growing. Sigurd looked quite surprised.

"I would have thought that you would be angry at us for leaving," he said sadly. Stoic just shook his head.

"You're one of my closest friends," he said. "I'm just happy to see you again. Have you been here all this time?" Sigurd nodded. "And what about Ingrid?" He then gestured to his wife that stood slightly to the side.

"Hello, Stoic," Ingrid greeted.

"Ingrid?" They looked up to see Valka with a dropped jaw.

"Hello, Val," Ingrid replied smiling. She wasn't prepared for the hug that Valka gave her. Bone crushing and full of compassion.

"Where have you been? I've missed you so much! When we found you missing I was so upset! You were my closest friend!" The Hofferson couple looked at each other, both feeling guilt for leaving. They explained everything. Where they had been, what they had been doing and why they left.

"Stoic," Sigurd said turning to Astrid who was now nervous. "This is my daughter, Astrid."

"Oh, you are just the spitting image of your mother when she was your age," Valka said looking her up and down with a friendly smile. Astrid stood blushing as her parents discussed her with Stoic and Valka, who she knew were not only Hiccup and Toothless' parents, but also the chief and wife of Berk.

"So, are you planning on coming back soon?" Valka asked. Astrid watched as her parents turned towards each other.

"We hadn't quite decided yet. In all honesty it's up to Astrid. If she wants to stay here, we'll stay with her. If she wants to go, then we'll go." Stoic and Valka nodded.

"We'll leave you to it," Valka said leading her husband away to talk more with their own children. Sigurd and Ingrid both turned towards Astrid, who knew exactly what they were going to say.

"Now, honey," Ingrid started. "Whatever decision you choose to make is the right one. Do you want to stay here, or do you want to go to Berk? If you don't like it on Berk we can come back, or if you're not sure we can wait a little longer."

Astrid stood weighing the options. She knew this world. She knew everything in it. Berk was completely knew. She didn't really know what to expect. But at the same time, she had made some great friends. She had no friends as school in this world. And, from what she had heard, there was a certain amount of freedom that came with going to Berk. And there was Hiccup. If she chose to stay, she might never see him again. But if she chose to go, who knows what the future holds. And there was also her parents to think about. They would stay with her whatever she chose, but she could see how much they wanted to go back. She too a deep breath and made her decision.

"I'll go," she said with a smile. The grins on her parents faces were unforgettable.

"Are you sure?" Ingrid asked, trying to look concerned but not being able to stop the look of pure glee that sat in her face. Astrid nodded.

"Like you said," she replied. "I can always come back if a I don't like it." Her parents smiled, her mother happy, her father proud. The they looked themselves up and down.

"We're going to need to change," Sigurd said looking at his clothes.

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked confused.

"We can't go to Berk dressed like this," her father replied he's turning to his clothes. "Gobber!" he called and a man with a missing arm and leg who fit Hiccup's description of his mentor ran over.

"Sigurd? Ingrid? Is it really you?" he asked his eyes wide.

"It is, old friend," Sigurd replied smiling. He was suddenly enveloped in a hug by the other man.

"It's been too long!" Gobber exclaimed happily.

"It has," Sigurd said, coughing slightly when he was finally let go. "Actually, I have a favour to ask you. Do you have an spare clothes?" Gobber put his hand to his chin in thought.

"I might for you two, but definitely not the girl. She'll need to talk to Stormfly about that. Does this mean that you're coming home?" Sigurd and Ingrid nodded. Gobber wrapped them both up in a hug. Ingrid managed to gesture to Astrid to go to Stormfly and Astrid left her two struggling parents, laughing as she went. It was then that she noticed that all of her friends had changed into Berkian clothes and had all their bags, ready to go.

"Hey, Storm," she said walking up to the girl. She wore a blue top with a yellow skirt, blue leggings, brown boots and a shoulder guard on her left shoulder with the Sharp Class symbol painted in pink. "Do you have any clothes I could borrow?" Stormfly's eyebrows shot is in surprise.

"You mean you're coming with us?" she asked a smile growing on her face. Astrid nodded and Stormfly leapt on her giving her a hug. She then pulled away suddenly and grabbed Astrid's hand, pulling her into the mill.

She pulled her into one of the bedrooms and shut the door. She began grabbing things out of her bag. She tossed a red top towards her and turned around so that she could put it on, as well as a blue skirt and some brown leggings. Once they were on, Stormfly looked her up and down. She narrowed her eyes and Astrid felt a little nervous. Then she grabbed Astrid by the shoulders and turned her around. Astrid could feel her pull out the hair band that had held her hair in a pony tail and begin doing something to her hair.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she saw her hair band thrown across the room.

"You can't go to Berk with your hair like that. Trust me. I know what I'm doing." Astrid sighed and let Stormfly finish her work. Once she was gone, Astrid was once again turned around. She watched as Stormfly looked her up and down with narrowed eyes before suddenly holding up a finger with a look that said she had an idea. She turned Astrid back around and Astrid could hear her rummaging around in her bag before pulling something else out. She felt her attaching it around her shoulders and then she was suddenly pulled towards the mirror.

Astrid stared at her appearance in surprise. She was used to wearing a t-shirt and jeans with her hair in a pony tail. It was just how she dressed. But this was different. On top of her red top, sitting on her shoulders was a brown hood. When she felt it, it was soft and warm. Her skirt and leggings were comfortable and warm, especially her boots. Then she noticed her hair. It was braided down her shoulder and had been tied with a piece of material at the end.

"Well?" Stormfly asked smugly, obviously seeing how much Astrid liked her new look.

"It's amazing," was all Astrid could say back. Stormfly just smiled to herself and tidied up her bag before hoisting it over her shoulder.

"I know," she said before gesturing for them to both leave. She led the way and Astrid followed. As they left the mill she spotted her parents by the door, dressed just like all the other parents. Ingrid took one look at her and looked like she was going to cry.

"My darling girl!" she said happily. "You look perfect."

"Thanks, mom," Astrid said with a smile.

"Well, shall we go?" Sigurd asked. Astrid nodded. He then turned and nodded towards Stoic who called for them all to leave. The group then all began the trek towards the crack. Astrid and her parents stood towards the back. Stormfly ran up to Toothless and whispered something in his ear. He turned to see Astrid at the back. He then rushed to the front where Hiccup stood beside his parents looking depressed. As he heard what Toothless had to say, his depressed look faded. He followed Toothless to where there was a good view of the back of the group and saw Astrid in Berkian clothes. His eyes widened and Toothless nudged him in the back towards her. He nodded to his brother and thanked him before making his way beside Astrid.

"Hey," he said gaining her attention. She looked up a little startled at his voice but smiled. She looked him up and down to see what he was wearing. He had on a red shirt with brown leather shoulder guards and a leather armour piece that ran down his right arm. He wore brown trousers and boots and his sword was strapped to his side. The look suited him.

"Hey," she said back.

"So you're coming with us?" he asked.

"I am," she replied. "Is that a problem?"

"Not at all." They both laughed and he took hold of her hand. She gladly let him. They didn't notice Toothless nudging his mother who looked back to see her eldest son holding hands wth a girl. She smiled knowingly. She would leave him be now, but she would pester him later.

Soon enough they had arrived at the crack. All those who had been through before were quick to slide through and eager to get home. Stoic and Gobber stood on either side of the crack making sure everyone got through okay. Last of all were the Hofferson's. Sigurd and Ingrid wanted to wait for Astrid to go first in case she decided to change her mind. Hiccup shot Astrid an encouraging smile before stepping through. She took a deep breath looking up into the patient faces of her parents, Stoic and Gobber. Then she stepped through to the other side.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed two chapters at once. Finally off to Berk! Woohoo! Hiccup's look as described by Astrid is inspired of Hiccup's look in Race to The Edge, but I didn't want to do it the same so I changed it a little.**

 **Miti-sweets:** Thanks! I love doing the fluffy stuff.

 **An Amber Pen:** I shall!

 **OechsnerC:** Sorry about that. Were these two long enough for you?

 **The SkrillRider:** Just wait and see!

 **If you haven't already please follow, favourite and review.**

 **Until next time!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry this took so long. I've been working on it for weeks. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with it and I still don't like it.**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The other side was a forest. Just like the one that she had come from. They looked like they could be the same place. Except that here there was no river and she could see a camp set up that those around her were looking at with distrustful expressions. Her parents were soon to follow, and then Stoic and Gobber. Once everyone was through they began the walk towards the village.

Hiccup came to stand beside her again. She was the one to grab his hand this time. She could immediately tell that he was less tense than he had been when the were in the other world. He was happy to be home. She hoped that she would like it just as much as he clearly did. As she looked up she saw his mother, Valka, watching her. The woman gave her an approving nod and Astrid smiled back, feeling slightly relieved. Hiccup noticed the exchange and smiled. His mother winked at him before turning back to see what was ahead of her.

Soon enough they could see the edge of the trees ahead of them. Astrid watched in anticipation as the tree line drew closer. She could hear the sounds of the town growing louder. She really hoped that she would like it here. If not for her sake then for her parents. She could tell the really missed it.

They were almost there when she felt Hiccup's hand leave hers. He said that he needed to speak with Gobber about something but that he would see her later. Then he was gone. She watched him weave his way into the crowd and disappear. She carried on walking alone, anticipation growing. And the suddenly the trees were behind them and in front of her stood the village. Wooden houses loomed up ahead, people were walking around with happy smiles on their faces. She could even see dragons flying over head, some like in the drawings that Hiccup had shown her, some completely different.

"So, what do you think?" Sigurd said from behind her and he and Ingrid came to stand with her.

"It's amazing," Astrid said staring around in awe. "It's like looking at a picture in a history book, except so much better!" She watched as her parents smiled at each other in relief.

"Well, come on! Let's get to the house. It hasn't been used in seventeen year. I don't want to see the dust piles that will be everywhere." Ingrid marched off ahead followed by husband and daughter. Her words caught Astrid by surprise. She hadn't even thought of the fact that they would have a house here. Now she was anxious and excited to see what it was like.

From the outside, the house looked just like the others. It was wooden and stood tall next the houses beside it. Ingrid pushed open the heavy wooden door and entered the house. Sigurd and Astrid following. Inside was a simple room with a fire pit in the middle to keep the house warm and a few comfortable looking chair around it. In the back left corner were stairs heading to the upstairs. In the back left corner was the kitchen. But it wasn't the kind of kitchen that Astrid was used to. She was used to electrical appliances and running water. In this kitchen there were cupboards to keep things in and a counter top, a small fire pit with a pot resting over the top hanging off the rod of a spit fire, and a bucket which she assumed would usually have water in it. She could already see that this was going to take some getting used to.

"We know it's a little old fashioned compared to what you're used to, but I'm sure you'll get used to it. And you can always go back if you don't like it," Sigurd said, worried about how she would react to seeing the house.

"It's ok," Astrid replied smiling. "I'm sure I can get used to it." Her parents seemed to relax more at that.

"Come on," Ingrid said heading towards the stairs. "I'll show you your room." The stairs creaked as the walked up them. Astrid kind of liked the sound. The upstairs was just two rooms opposite one another. Entering the one on the room to the left Astrid found herself in a small room with a small bed, a wardrobe and a desk. She walked over to the window and found that the house was high enough that she could see over the roof of the house opposite and she could see the square. She could see a few market stalls and people milling around going about their daily business. She could even make out small children skipping about in circles playing games. She felt her mother move to stand next to her.

"That's Fishlegs and Stormfly's house there," she said pointing to a house just a few doors down from theirs on the opposite side. "And do you see that house up on the hill?" She nodded. "That's Hiccup and Toothless' house." Her eyes widened at the thought that she could see his house from her room. She saw Toothless walk up the hill to the house with his parents but furrowed her brow when Hiccup wasn't with them. She heard a noise behind her and turned to see her mother sitting down on the bed looking upset.

"Mom?" she said as she sat beside her. "What's wrong?"

"It's just… I just…" Ingrid seemed at a loss for words. "I just wonder what would have happened if we had stayed. I see how hurt my friends were when we left and I see how happy all the ones your age are and I wonder if we made a bad decision by leaving." Astrid was a little taken back by her words. She knew that her parents missed Berk, but it was more than that.

"Mom," Astrid replied taking her mother's hand in her own. "You were doing what was right for me. You made the decision based on what you thought was best. The past is gone. There's no point thinking about it. I'm happy. Isn't that what's important?" Ingrid nodded and laughed. She placed a hand on her daughter's cheek.

"I'm so proud of you, Astrid," she said. "Don't you ever change." Astrid nodded.

"So are we just going to sit around? Because I can't wear these clothes forever. They're not even mine." Ingrid laughed.

"Well we'd better get to the shops then, hadn't we?" Ingrid said standing up. "I'll just go downstairs and tell you're father." With that she left Astrid on her own in her new room.

It was very plain. That's the main thing she thought as she looked around the room. She found herself comparing it to her old room in her mind and she scolded herself. It was no good to think about the other world. It was a completely different place. She would never learn to love Berk if she compared everything to the other world. She would have to make some changes to the room to make her feel more comfortable. To make it feel more like home. She smiled and thought of some ideas before running down the stairs to meet her mother.

The square was only a couple of streets away and so the walk there was short. As soon as they turned the corner, the street erupted in noise and colour. She had to take a sudden step back as a group of children, half of them in human form, the other half in dragon form, came running past her. She laughed and watched them go. Looking up she could see all the shops that lined the square. Where there weren't shops there were stalls, either selling food or materials.

As they walked through the square, people kept stopping to talk to Ingrid. Astrid was surprised at how many people she knew until Ingrid explained that it was a small town. Everyone knew everyone.

They spent the afternoon collecting things that they needed for the house and some materials that would be made into clothes for Astrid. Astrid was amazed that they didn't have to pay for anything. It was already agreed on between the villagers that since they all depended on each other, that so long as they all contributed to the collected wellbeing of the village, no payment was needed. It meant that if if a farmer wanted fish, they could take some from the fisherman, and if the fisherman wanted fruit or vegetables, he could take some from the farmer. It was basic trade principles applied to all in the village.

As they walked through the streets of Berk, Astrid heard a steady clanging noise that drew her attention. She turned to see a small building on the edge of the town with a large chimney with black smoke pouring out. It had wooden shutters at the front and looked like a shop front. She listened as the clanging stopped for a few seconds before carrying on again. She asked her mother what it was and soon found out that it was the village forge, where all the metalwork was done.

Ingrid explained that that was where Gobber worked. Then she remembered that Hiccup worked there sometimes too. She had already seen Gobber in the town so she knew he wasn't there. She smiled as she turned towards her daughter.

"Why don't you go and have a look?" she asked.

"Are you sure I can?" Astrid replied. That didn't mean to say she didn't want to. She had never seen a forge before and wanted to see what it was like. But it didn't feel like she was supposed to be in there.

"Of course!" her mother said. "There's an entrance in the side. I'm sure he won't mind you having a peak." She never told Astrid who 'he' refer to.

Astrid nodded and left her mother to carry on her shopping. She slowly made her way up to the building. As she approached, she could feel the air gradually getting warmer. She wondered just how hot it was inside the building. She could smell the smoke thick in the air, the clanging sound slowly getting louder.

She stepped up to the door and knocked. When she didn't hear a reply she pushed the door open. She was immediately assaulted by an array of smells. Metal, ash, wood, sweat. It all mixed in the air to create one distinctive smell. She also realised just how hot it was on the inside, sweat slowly rolling down her forehead after only a few seconds.

She slowly peaked into the room and saw the swords, axes, maces, spears, hammers and bludgeons that lined the wall. As she slowly scanned around she found the origin of the sound. And then suddenly her breath caught in her throat and she was struggling for air.

* * *

 **I hate the way this ends. But oh well. At least you guys have a chapter. It took me ages and I'm not happy with it, but oh well. At least you guys have a chapter. Can anyone guess what made Astrid so breathless?**

 **OechsnerC:** Thanks!

 **Miti-sweets:** Sorry it took so long. Thanks for the amazing review. Reviews like that are what keep me writing. I might have a plan for Toothfly, I might not. You'll just have to wait and see.

 **dracologistmaster:** Thanks.

 **FirstBookworm:** Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy this one.

 **The SkrillRider:** That should happen soon.

 **Changewing rider:** Every reviewer gets a reply! I'll see about the character, thi as for names, any OCs I'm using I've given norse names.

 **Guest:** Looking forward to Astrid becoming more like the Berkians. Glad you like it!

 **If you haven't already, please follow, favourite and review. Reviews keep me writing!**

 **Until next time!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello! I live! Sorry it took so long. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with this chapter and then I'm also trying to write a novel, so I spent some time finishing a chapter for that. I hope you can forgive me.**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Read on!**

* * *

The room was so hot that it was almost unbearable, and yet the sight in front of her seemed to double the heat. She could feel that her cheeks were cherry red.

Hiccup stood in front of the anvil, with his back to her, shirtless. He was pounding on a piece of metal and every time he did, the muscles in his back shifted. Sweat rolled down his back and his dragon mark glistened. Before she could stop herself, she let out a strangled noise in the back of her throat.

Hiccup turned around and smiled seeing her there. She quickly shut her mouth that had been hanging open from the shock.

"Hey Astrid," he said stopping what he was doing. He plunged the piece of metal into a bucket of water that sat beside the anvil and then withdrew it, placing it down on a counter. "I didn't hear you come in. How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long," Astrid managed to reply watching as he picked up his shirt and pulled it over his head covering up bare skin. In all honesty she had no idea how long she had been there. It could have been a few seconds, it could have been a few minutes, she had no idea. "What are you working on?" she forced herself to say, trying to jumpstart her brain.

"Now that, milady, is a surprise," Hiccup replied with a mischievous grin. He wiped his hands on a cloth and walked towards her. She noticed a small smudge on his cheek. She slowly reached up and wiped it off using her thumb. As she did she found herself gazing into his eyes. He gazed into hers. She felt him lean into her hand slightly. Then she realised just how close they were. He leaned closer and she let him, her heart beating faster and faster in her chest. He kissed her slowly and she kissed back, the hand that rested on his cheek now at the back of his head. It only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. Hiccup pulled away with a smile. Astrid couldn't help but smile as well as the warm feeling in her stomach grew.

"We should probably go before your mother begins to worry about you," Hiccup said not taking his eyes off Astrid.

"I suppose," Astrid replied sadly, not letting go of her hold around his neck. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her head.

"How about we spend tomorrow just the two of us?" he asked. "Today we do what we have to do, but tomorrow we go off and hide from everyone."

"I like sound of that," she replied, her voice slightly muffled as her face was buried in his shoulder. She felt him gradually let go and she let go off him. They stepped out of the forge and he shut the door behind them. Astrid slowly led him down to where she had last seen her mother, only to find she hadn't moved but was now talking to someone different.

"Astrid! There you are!" she said upon seeing her daughter. "Hiccup, it's good to see you."

"Hello, Mrs Hofferson. Are you settling in ok?" Hiccup asked.

"Just fine. It's nice to be back after all these years." Astrid could see how happy she was.

"Hiccup! Where have you been?!" they turned around to see Gobber running over.

"I was in the forge," Hiccup replied.

"Your father and I have been looking everywhere for you. He needs your help preparing for the feast later." Hiccup nodded and turned to Astrid.

"I'll see you later?" she nodded and he smiled before turning back to Gobber and telling the man to lead the way.

Having all that she needed, Ingrid asked her daughter if she wanted to go back to the house. Astrid was quite happy to go, grabbing some of the things from her mother's arms to make her load lighter.

Once inside the house, Ingrid went straight upstairs to put away the things that she had bought. Astrid was about to follow her when someone knocked on the door. Realising that her mother hadn't heard, she decided that it was best to at least find out who it was. She opened the door and was surprised to find Stormfly standing outside with a basket full of clothes.

"Hey Astrid!" she said cheerily.

"Hi Storm," Astrid replied slowly. "Did you need something?"

"No," the girl said smiling. "I just thought that since you don't have many clothes, you might like some." She gestured to the basket in her arms.

"You mean you brought all these clothes for me?" Astrid asked, her jaw slack.

"Yup," Stormfly replied. "My mother is a seamstress and she's teaching me the trade. I make clothes all the time."

"Wow, that's so nice of you!" Astrid said, unsure of how to reply to such a kind gesture.

"You can say thank you by taking this basket. It's not exactly light." Astrid quickly snapped out of her thoughts and grabbed the basket and put it down on a table near the door.

"I suppose you'll be wanting these back now," Astrid said gesturing to the clothes she was wearing. "I was going to wash them before I gave them back."

"Nonsense!" Stormfly snapped waving her off. "They look better on you than they ever did on me."

"It's really kind of you to do this. Thank you so much!" Astrid said in reply.

"It's nothing, honestly," the younger girl said. "Anyway, I'd better get going. I'll see you later!" And with that she was gone.

Astrid wondered about what she had said. That she'd see her later. Hiccup had said the same thing. And Gobber had mentioned a feast. As she was thinking, her mother came down the stairs.

"I thought I heard you talking. Was someone at the door?"

"It was Stormfly. She wanted to drop off some clothes." Ingrid looked at the basket and started sorting through the clothes.

"How sweet of her!" she exclaimed. "That girl is definitely an Ingerman. Her eye for detail is incredible. Dare I say it, I think she's a better seamstress than her mother, and that's saying something."

I stepped towards her and started looking through the clothes with her. They were well made, and in all sorts of colours. She smiled as she picked up a red skirt with leather strips over the top to of the material.

"You should wear that later," Ingrid said. Astrid looked up to see her mother smiling.

"What is later?" Astrid asked lowering the skirt back into the basket. "People keep saying that they'll 'see me later', but I don't know why."

"With every great celebration, there comes a great feast," Ingrid replied. "Tonight celebrates the return of the younger generation."

Astrid nodded in understanding. She grabbed ahold of the basket and hoisted it up the stairs placing it on the floor by her wardrobe. She turned around to see her mother looking her up and down with a calculating gaze.

"What?" she asked.

"It's only a couple of hours until the feast. I'm deciding how you should look at you first official village event. You need to make the right impression."

Two hours later Astrid stood at the bottom of the stairs to the Great Hall listening to the laughter and cheering coming from inside. She wore the skirt that she had seen in the basket earlier, as well as a red top that matched the skirt and the fur that she had been wearing around her shoulders earlier. She wore a leather band around her head to keep her hair from falling in her eyes and another piece of leather had been delicately wrapped around and intertwined around her right hand and arm.

"Are you ready, Astrid?" Sigurd asked looking down at her from where he stood with Ingrid on the top step.

"I guess," she replied slowly. She forced her feet up the steps and followed her parents as they made their way into the Great Hall. The giant, wooden doors loomed up in front of her. Gathering all her courage, she stepped into the hall and was soon enveloped in the noise and smells inside.

* * *

 **So? What do you think? Next chapter is the feast and quite possibly the reveal of Hiccup's project from the forge. I haven't thought that far yet.**

 **Dracologistmaster:** Thanks.

 **Sarnakh the Sunderer:** Hiccup is 17 so well guessed.

 **Scapitancedrus:** Thanks.

 **Nightfurylov3e:** Nope, wrong answer. Well done for trying though!

 **Dragonfan47:** What else?

 **GreenBlueCat:** Yeah, decided not to do that in the end. Would have been pretty funny though. Thanks for the idea!

 **Secret love writer:** Yup

 **Dreamydragonrider:** Num 1 is correct though I'm not sure why 3 is even an option…

 **FirstBookworm:** Thanks!

 **The SkrillRider:** I'm sorry! This one doesn't really help either.

 **Toxic Girlfriend:** Of course!

 **Miti-sweets:** Thanks!

 **Thanks to everyone that reviewed. Reviews keep me writing!**

 **If you haven't already, please follow, favourite and review.**

 **Until next time!**


	18. Chapter 18

**I…I'm alive? I'm alive!**

 **Sorry I took so long. Been really busy lately and I was struggling with this chapter. I still don't like the ending but oh well. At least you have a chapter.**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Inside the hall wasn't what she had been expecting. Not that she really knew what she had been expecting. But whatever image her mind had conjured up, this wasn't it.

The hall was a lot warmer than she thought it would be. So far, Berk had proved it wasn't a warm place, but the large fire inside kept the big room heated. There were people everywhere, all dressed in warm clothes and armour. Some had their weapons with them and some didn't.

No one seemed to notice the Hoffersons as they entered the hall, slowly pushing the door open and letting it quietly shut behind them. Astrid quickly spotted her friends sitting at a table in the corner. She looked towards her mother who nodded. She smiled and headed of in the direction of her friends.

Stormfly was the first to see her. She jumped up and gave her a huge hug before letting go and looking her up and down.

"You look amazing," she said with a grin. "You look like some kind of warrior princess or something."

"Um, thanks," Astrid replied unsure. "I think." Stormfly burst out laughing and pulled her friend over to the table. As they sat down Astrid noticed that it was just Stormfly, Toothless and the twins.

"Where are Hiccup, Fishlegs and Snotlout?" she asked.

"They're sitting at the Chief's table," Stormfly replied.

"Really we should be there too," Toothless added. "Our dads are all on the council so they get a special position during feasts along with their families. We should be with them really." Tooth looked towards Storm who rolled her eyes.

"But it's so boring! The men only talk about council stuff and the women talk about life, but they make it sound so dull." She lay her head on the table dramatically. Astrid glanced at the twins who just shrugged and carried on eating. Toothless patted Stormfly's back in a sarcastically sympathetic way.

Astrid turned around to look at the Chief's table. She saw Hiccup sitting beside his father, Fishlegs by his side, staring at whatever liquid sat in his cup. He looked up at his father and said something. Stoick' head dropped slightly and she could see him sigh. Valka placed a hand on his arm, but her back was to Astrid, and so she couldn't see her face. Hiccup looked pleadingly towards his father and eventually Stoick waved him off. Hiccup smiled and nudged Fishlegs and they both stood up. Snotlout moved to follow them but was swiftly pushed back into his chair by his father. He slumped down looking depressed but perked up when Stoic called something down the table to Spitelout and the man said something back. Stoick replied and soon enough Spitelout was waving his son off and the boy was eagerly jumped up out of his chair and joining his cousin and friend as they headed to Astrid's table.

"You're free!" Stormfly exclaimed hugging her brother as he sat down beside her. Fishlegs looked at her with an annoyed expression on his face until she let go.

"Thank goodness I don't have to listen to debates about the new bridge any more," Snotlout said sliding down in his chair with a relaxed look on his face.

"They were discussing the new bridge at that end?" Fishlegs asked with a shocked expression on his face. "Lucky! I was stuck between my mom and Valka talking about needlework techniques!"

All the boy's and Ruffnut's faces paled at the thought while Stormfly burst out laughing and received a glare from her brother.

After that conversation continued as normal. Talk about what they had been doing that day, complaints about their parents, what they had planned for the next day and they asked Astrid a lot of questions about how she was finding Berk and what she thought so far.

"Alright everyone, settle down!" Stoick's voice called out above the noise. Soon the hall was quiet as people waited to see what the Chief was about to say. "Tonight is a special night. Tonight we celebrate the return of the next generation of protectors of this village. We, as parents, hoped that sending them away would help protect them. But we soon found that they are already an invaluable part of Berk. And we couldn't be prouder!" He raised his mug and the hall erupted in cheers before Stoick managed to calm everyone down again. "That is not the only good news. As some of you already know, the Hoffersons have returned to us and with them they bring their beautiful daughter, Astrid. So my friends, welcome home!"

Astrid felt her cheeks burning as people turned to look at her applauding and cheering. She felt Hiccup nudge her in her side and smiled when she saw his grinning face.

Stormfly looked around to Toothless, only to find he wasn't there. She turned around just in time to see the doors the the Great Hall close. She furrowed her brow before quietly slipping away just as he had. She found him sitting outside on the front steps looking up at the sky. She sat down beside him and waited for him to speak. It took a while but eventually she heard him take in a deep breath and sigh.

"You guys all have so much you can offer the village. I…I have nothing. The only thing I've ever been good at was flying. And look at how that turned out. I'm a flightless dragon." He stopped and placed his face in his hands. Stormfly could tell he wasn't finished so she waited patiently for him to continue.

"I love my brother, but if this had happened to him, he would be fine. He's an excellent strategist, he's amazing in the forge and he's training to run the village. What can I do? Apart from flying, nothing."

"Oh come on, Tooth!" Storm replied lightheartedly. "I'm sure there's something else you're good at. You just don't know it yet!"

"That's not all it is though," Toothless said quietly. "I love flying. I don't how I'm going to cope without it."

"You could always ride on my back," Stormfly put in, her cheeks turning red. "I don't mind."

"But it's not the same, is it?" She flinched back slightly from his cringed and sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm not in the best mood at he moment. When we were in the other world, none of you were allowed to fly, which made it a little easier. But since we've been back, I keep seeing people flying around the village, and I can't do that anymore. And it hurts."

"Storm, could you please give us a minute." She turned around to see Hiccup standing behind her with a bundle in his arms wrapped in cloth. She didn't bother asking what it was. She just nodded and walked away.

Hiccup sat down next to his brother on the steps. He lay the bundle behind him and looked up at the stars along with Toothless. Then he looked back down and nudged his brother in the arm.

"How come you aren't inside celebrating?"

"What is there to celebrate? You all get to come back and do things you're good at and you enjoy. I'm good at flying. I love flying. And I can't even do that." He slumped down hoping more than anything that his brother would decide to just leave him alone and not start another bout of encouragement that was not encouraging at all.

"Well, I don't think you need to worry about flying anymore," Hiccup replied. Toothless looked at him with a confused expression on his face.

"So, because I can't fly, I don't need to worry any more?" He felt a little annoyed. Did his brother not realise how hard this was for him?

"That's not what I meant," Hiccup replied shaking his head. "I meant, you don't need to worry about not being able to fly anymore." Before Toothless could reply, Hiccup placed the bundle on his lap. Toothless just stared at it. "Well go on. Open it," Hiccup encouraged.

Toothless narrowed his eyes and began to untie the string that held the cloth together. He stared down at the mechanic contraption in front of him before looking up at his brother in confusion.

"It's a prosthetic tail fin," Hiccup said. "It should imitate you real tail fin. I haven't tested it so I don't know if it works, but it should. I know it's not your real fin and that you want that more than anything. And I know that this is a kind of handicap but hopefully with a bit of practice-" Toothless wrapped his arms around him pulling him into a hug.

"Shut up," he said with a grin. "And thank you." Hiccup smiled hugging his brother back. Then Toothless suddenly pulled away. "Can we try it out now?"

"How about we try it out tomorrow in the daylight? Plus, I don't have my tools on me and there's a whole celebration going on in there. Do you really want to miss that?" Hiccup smiled, gesturing towards the building behind them. Toothless grinned and got up. The two went inside the hall placing the prosthetic on the only empty chair.

"What is that?" Snotlout looked at the contraption beside him with distrust.

"That is hopefully a new tail fin for Toothless," Hiccup replied. Storm's face exploded with happiness as she threw her arms around Toothless causing him to blush madly. She quickly pulled away, her cheeks just as red as his and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"What do you mean 'hopefully'?" Fisher said shaking his head at his sister.

"It's not been tested yet. But it should work." Hiccup smiled sheepishly.

"I'm sure it will," Toothless added grinning.

* * *

 **I couldn't think of a good way to end it but oh well. One of the only chapters without a cliffie. How did you like the little brother fluff scene? Sorry it's not too long.**

 **Miti-sweets:** Thanks! Reviews like that really keep me going. Thanks so much!

 **Checkingdude:** Thanks for the criticism. I really appreciate. My other stories I felt moved a little too quickly so I kind of went the complete other direction with this one. It will pick up more in the next few chapters. I have some big plans for this story, I just wanted to make sure the foundations of the story are laid properly before it really starts to pick up. But thanks.

 **dracologistmaster:** Sorry that there's not a lot of the celebration.

 **Firstbookworm:** I assumed that Hiccup's forge project was kind of predictable but no one seemed to say anything… Thanks!

 **The SkrillRider:** I'm updating! I'm updating! And patience! All is revealed in time.

 **Dreamydragonrider:** Thanks!

 **Changewing rider:** Thanks!

 **I am Moonsong:** Thanks, I will.

 **Thanks everyone for reviewing! You're all amazing for sticking with me through all the late chapters.**

 **If you haven't already, follow, favourite and review!**

 **Until next time!**


	19. Chapter 19

**…I'm not dead? …I'm…I'm alive? …I'm alive!**

 **Sorry for the delay guys. Lots been happening and I've been struggling to find time to write. I've also been struggling with motivation for this story.**

 **But anyway, I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Onto the chapter!**

* * *

Astrid stood outside the Ingerman home as she knocked on the door. Today was the day she would learn how to change forms. She didn't know whether to be terrified or excited. The door opened and she was greeted by Thyra Ingerman.

"Hello, dear," the woman said to her with a kind smile. "Stormfly is just coming. It's lovely to have you and your parents back home. Your mother was a good friend of mine and I really missed her."

"Well, it's nice to be here," Astrid replied. "Its…different. But it's growing on me." She smiled politely and Thyra grinned.

She looked like she was about to continue, when suddenly the words "Bye, Mom!" filled the air and a blur of Stormfly grabbed Astrid's hand and started pulling her off.

"Goodbye, Mrs Ingerman! It was nice meeting you!" Astrid managed to call before she was pulled away completely.

She was swiftly led to the edge of the forest where the boys were waiting. Toothless stood looking excited as he held his new tail.

"Hi girls," Hiccup said with a smile.

"Hi!" Stormfly replied happily, finally letting go of Astrid's hand. "So where are we going?"

"To Raven's Point," Hiccup said as they turned and started walking into the forest. "Toothless and I found a cove there a few years back. It's the perfect place for testing his new tail." Stormfly and Toothless grinned and walked ahead as they talked between the two of them. Hiccup and Astrid walked a little slower behind them. "It's also a good place for showing people how to turn into a dragon."

Astrid's eyes widened as she heard the words whispered in her ear. Then she thought about the three sets of eyes that would be watching her, probably watching her fail.

"You're _all_ going to be teaching me?" she asked nervously.

"No, don't worry about that," Hiccup replied softly. "As soon as Toothless can fly, he'll never want to come back down and Stormfly will stay up there with him. While I'm helping Toothless get in the air, you can talk to Stormfly and get some tips from her. It should be helpful, especially since she's a Nadder."

"So how exactly does that work?" Astrid asked as they walked through the forest.

"How does what work?" Hiccup asked focusing on where he was walking.

"What dragon a person is. You and Toothless are both Night Furies, so you would assume that your parents are too, but they're not. How does that work?" It had been bugging Astrid for a while and she wanted to know if there was any logic to the way it worked.

"Well, it doesn't really have anything to do with family," Hiccup replied. "But people always seem to be the dragon that most suits their personality."

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked confused.

"Well," Hiccup replied. "Take Fishlegs for example. He's a Gronkle. Gronkle's are the most gentle dragons. They look tough on the outside but on the inside, they're all soft. Fishlegs fits the personality perfectly. On the outside he may look tough, but he's really soft on the inside."

"OK," Astrid said with a smile. "I think I get it."

Their conversation continued a little while longer before they saw that Stormfly and Toothless had stopped ahead of them. They stopped alongside them looking down on a sunken cove in front of them. The grass was bright green and the pond in the middle had the clearest water Astrid had ever seen.

"You coming?" She turned around to see that Stormfly and Toothless were already making their way down. Hiccup stood at the top looking towards her with a smile. She nodded and they began making their way down. Hiccup offered to help her but she was determined to do it on her own.

Once they were all standing in the cove, Astrid looked around amazed at the high walls that surrounded the grassy pasture where they stood. It felt completely peaceful. She watched as Toothless put down his new tail with an excited look on his face.

"So, what do we do now?" he asked, almost jumping up and down in his excitement. Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Change forms so I can attach the prosthetic to your tail." He said as he walked over to the bundle sitting on the grass.

Astrid felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Stormfly beckoning her to sit down on the grass beside her and give the boys some space. When she looked up she saw that Toothless had changed into his dragon form. She forgot how small Night Furies were compared to most of the other dragons she had seen. Then she noticed his tail. When she had heard that his tail fin and been severed she hadn't quite realised what that meant. She saw the raggedy remainder of the fin that would have looked equal to the whole fin that sat beside it.

"What happened?" she asked Stormfly quietly. She knew that the tail fin had been severed, but she had no idea how. Stormfly stayed quiet for a while, watching Hiccup attach the mechanical tail fin.

"Human raid. Just because we can change forms they think we're unnatural or something and that we shouldn't exist. So they raid the village. Hiccup and Toothless are both Night Furies, the fast dragons known, so they usually go ahead and try to cause as much damage to the ships as they can before they reach the shore."

"But something went wrong," Astrid finished for her guessing the ending. Stormfly nodded and continued.

"Hiccup had a plan. A good plan. And the first two times it worked. But the third time the humans figured it out. They shot at Toothless and, well, I guess you can see what happened."

In the time of their short conversation, Hiccup had managed to strap the mechanical fin onto Toothless tail and Toothless now stood on top of a high rock that overlooked the cove.

"Glide over the water!" Hiccup called up to his brother as he stood below. "If you're going to crash, aim for the water!"

Toothless gave a slight nod and readied himself on the edge of the rock. He opened up his wings and Astrid was amazed at the length of each wing compared to the small frame of his body. She supposed that was why they were so fast. They were very aerodynamic. She watched as he crouched down and then sprung from the rock into the air. At first things looked good. Then he began to falter. And then he crashed. Hiccup rushed over, a little worried but the only thing Astrid could hear was the laughter coming from Stormfly beside her.

Astrid looked up shaking her head only to find Hiccup was bent over laughing too. Beside him stood a drenched Toothless not looking happy. She couldn't help the slight snigger that came out of her mouth at the sight. Toothless shook himself off, drenching Hiccup in the process.

The next few minutes involved Hiccup removing the prosthetic, looking over his work and making adjustments, then fitting it back onto Toothless' tail.

The process repeated a few times. Toothless would jump off the rock, each time with improvement, but would ultimately falter and fall. Hiccup would then make adjustments to the mechanics and they would try again.

Until Toothless didn't crash.

He leapt off the rock and soared around the cove before deciding to it was safe to try a different manoeuvre. He adjusted his fin, flapped his wings and pushed to get out of the cove. He flew higher without any problems and was soon trying all sorts of manoeuvres as he tested his new tail. The next thing they knew he had landed and had pounced on his brother and was laughing with glee.

" **You did it Hiccup! It works! I can fly again!** " he exclaimed happily.

"Race you to the other side of the island!" Stormfly called before leaping up, changing into her dragon form and flying off. Toothless grinned and raced off after her. Astrid sat laughing at the two as Hiccup just shook his head and walked over to Astrid.

"Well, Toothless can fly again. Now it's your turn," he said smiling.

Astrid didn't know whether to be excited, worried or terrified. She had asked Stormfly about transforming while Hiccup and Toothless had been busy but Stormfly had been very vague. It made her wonder if she would ever learn to change forms at all. How would she fit in on an island of shapeshifters if she couldn't change her form?

"I know you're nervous," Hiccup said sitting beside her. "But just have a little faith and confidence in yourself and you won't have a problem." He took her hands in his and smiled reassuringly. It made her feel better knowing that he clearly trusted that she could do it. She smiled back and he stood up, pulling her up with him.

"So what do I do?" she asked.

"Do you remember when you learned how to create fire for yourself?" Hiccup asked.

"When you asked me to find my core?" Astrid asked in reply.

"Yes," Hiccup said letting go of her hands. "I need you to find it again."

Astrid nodded and closed her eyes. She felt inside of her for her core and was surprised at how much easier she found it this time compared to the first time. She still needed to concentrate but it was definitely easier.

"Ok," she said, letting Hiccup know she was ready.

"Good," he replied clearing his throat. "I've never tried to teach someone how to change into their dragon form so let's just hope that this works." He stopped for a second but carried on before she could say anything. "Your connection to your core in your human half is weak, but it's stronger in your dragon half. I want you to try to strengthen your connection with your core." He stopped and she could tell he wasn't going to say anything else.

Astrid thought about his words. While they sounded confusing and didn't seem to make much sense, she understood what he meant completely. She could feel her core, but her connection to it was weak. She focused on strengthening it. She felt its heat burning deep inside of her. She felt the heat rise. Her feet began to feel more grounded and wider. Her legs felt further apart. The sounds around her burst to life and she heard things she had never heard before. And, was that her shoulders shifting back? It all felt so completely natural. The heat of her core was growing hotter and hotter, but even though her connection to it was stronger than ever, she was beginning to feel it's heat less and less. It was warm and comforting more than anything else.

When her connection to her core felt it was as strong as it was ever going to get and her body seemed used to that, she opened her eyes. She was surprised to see the proud look on Hiccup's face, but she was shocked at the fact that he was smaller than her. Wasn't he a good couple of inches taller? She looked down wondering why and almost shrieked as she saw claws where her feet should be.

She had done it.

* * *

 **So what do you think? Did the whole thing with the core make sense? Did you think her changing forms was too fast? I didn't want to drag it out but I didn't want it to be too quick either. Please let me know your feedback!**

 **secret love writer:** Sorry it took so long again! I hope you can forgive me!

 **Nightfurylov3r:** Does that answer your question?

 **FirstBookworm:** I love brother fluff. That's why I made Hiccup and Toothless brothers.

 **thearizona:** Someone who understands! And thanks for thinking that this is a good story! I really appreciate it!

 **dracologistmaster:** It would be an interesting twist, wouldn't it…

 **OechsnerC:** I'm updating! Sorry for the delay!

 **The SkrillRider:** Sorry it took so long! Thanks for saying that this is your favourite story. I'm really not liking it at the moment so knowing that someone else does is really encouraging. Thanks!

 **So once again, sorry to everyone for taking so long. I'll try to be quicker with the next one!**

 **Thanks for reading everyone. Don't forget to follow, favourite and review.**

 **Until next time! (Hopefully sooner)**


	20. Chapter 20

**I'm alive! I'm really sorry for taking so long again. I wasn't entirely sure how this chapter was going to go and it took me a while to figure it out, but it's here!**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **I shall not hold you back any longer. Read on!**

* * *

"I can't believe that worked!" Astrid glared at Hiccup hearing his words. He held up his hands and shrugged. "I'm not going to lie. I really didn't think that would work. I've never done this before. Let's just be glad that it did."

" **Idiot** ," she muttered. Her eyes went wide as she heard her voice. This was not how she usually sounded. She heard a growl. Hiccup grinned at the sound.

" **Who are you calling an idiot**?" he growled back, crossing his arms, the grin only growing. " **It worked didn't it**?"

" **Yeah, yeah** ," she muttered, more to herself than to him, amazed at the noises that left her mouth that just sounded so natural. Everything just felt completely normal, and she wasn't sure if that scared her or not. She had just changed into a dragon. A few weeks ago, if someone had told her that she was part dragon she would have laughed at them. Yet here she was. A dragon for five minutes and the first thing she does is have a snarky conversation. The main thing that stumped her was the fact that she felt completely normal. Like suddenly being able to turn into a dragon was the most natural thing in the world. It just felt so right.

She decided not to dwell on her confused feelings. She had plenty of time to do that later. Right now, she would just embrace them.

" **So what now**?" she asked Hiccup.

" **Now you learn how to fly** ," Hiccup replied changing into his Night Fury form. It was strange how much smaller he seemed as a dragon. She guessed it was because her form was quite tall while his was closer to the ground. " **You probably already have good instincts so all we have to do is get them to kick in**." She watched as he hopped up onto the same rock Toothless had been on not long before.

" **What about if I don't have instincts**?" she asked, suddenly feeling afraid. What if she was a terrible dragon? How could she live in Berk? How could she face her parents?

" **Then we'll just teach you** ," Hiccup replied smiling. It amazed her how supportive he was being. Taking the time to teach her things she should already know.

She watched as he showed her how to stand before taking off. He pointed out where she needed to be in the air to successfully glide across the pond to land beside him on the grass. He even showed her how to land without hurting her feet. Not once did he sound condescending or fed up or annoyed. He was comforting and encouraging the entire time.

When it was finally her turn, Astrid walked up to the rock and hopped up. It occurred to her that this was the first time she had moved in her new form but she decided it would be better not to think too hard about it and just let her body take her to where she wanted to go, amazed that she didn't have to think about the movements herself. Her body knew how it was supposed to work.

She stood atop the rock looking down at the water below and then at Hiccup sat on the grass with his tail curled around himself. She made sure to stand the way he had told her and readied herself to jump. She tried to push away any thoughts that doubted whether she could actually do this or not. She just needed not to overthink. Let her instincts take over. She took a deep breath. And she jumped.

She had to force herself not to close her eyes in fear. She felt like her heart was in her throat and that any second now she was going to fall out of the sky. But then her panic passed. She felt the currents in the air passing over her wings and knew just how to adjust them to keep her aloft. She moved her tail in a way that wouldn't hinder her flight. She was doing it. She was actually flying.

She looked down to see Hiccup's proud face and angled her wings in a way that would bring her down beside him. She landed softly and tucked in her wings in a way that just felt so natural.

" **You're a natural** ," Hiccup said, standing up as she landed. " **Now** **let's** **try** **something** **more** **difficult**." He leapt up off the grass and into the sky. She stared after him wondering what he was doing.

" **Where are you going**?" she called out.

" **We're going for a proper flight. You need a real tour of the island** ," he called back, waiting for her in the air.

She looked up at him, unsure. She had just managed to glide, but flying was different. She decided not to doubt herself and to just do it. So she mimicked his stance and leapt up the same way he had. Once she was in the air, she knew exactly what to do. She manoeuvred her tail and angled her wings, and with a few flaps she was up to the same height as Hiccup.

He smiled and flew up a bit further. She followed and soon they were soaring over the tree tops. She looked down in amazement watching birds flying beside and below her, watching animals scurrying across the forest floor so far underneath them. She looked up and the sky had a different meaning. It meant freedom. Humans were tied to one place unless they had the means to travel, and even then it wasn't always easy. Dragons, on the other hand, had the capability to go anywhere they wanted to. They were truly free.

" **I have something to show you** ," Hiccup interrupted her thoughts. He banked left towards the coast and she followed. They flew along the edge of the island, over small beaches and rock pools before eventually landing on a rocky beach on the far side of the island.

Hiccup changed forms and walked towards the large rock wall that surrounded the beach, cutting it off much like the cove. Then he remembered Astrid who stood behind him wondering what he was doing, and turned back.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to explain how to change back," he apologised.

" **It's ok** ," she replied. " **I want to see if I can figure it out on my own**." How much different could it be to change from dragon to human than human to dragon? She closed her eyes and concentrated. She concentrated on how she felt when she changed the first time. Soon enough she felt her core dim and opened her eyes. She looked up at Hiccup's grinning face and smiled. She had done it. On her own.

"And the student becomes the master," Hiccup said with a laugh. Astrid's smile grew wider as she punched his arm.

He turned back towards the rock wall and walked over to a boulder that was perched against it. He pushed the boulder aside a few meters revealing a small hole tunnelled into the rock wall that was hidden behind it. He turned back grinning mischievously and climbed through.

Astrid stepped forwards and peered through the hole but it was too dark to see. She decided to just follow Hiccup. She climbed through and was surprised to find that the tunnel was sloped. She slid down and then the tunnel opened up into a cave. She dropped down shocked, not expecting the sudden ending of the tunnel. Fortunately there was a pair arms waiting to catch her at the bottom.

"Hello," Hiccup grinned as he held her in his arms.

" _Ha ha_ ," she said rolling her eyes. "What is this place?"

"My little secret," Hiccup replied gently putting her down. "I don't know if anyone else knows it's here but I've never told anyone. Not even Toothless."

Astrid looked around at the cave taking in the sight. There were small holes in the ceiling above her where the rock had worn away leaving small patches of light falling through. Where they stood it was rocky but just beside them was a small pool of water that was clearly a part of the sea that was on the other side of the cave walls. The light peaking through the small holes in the ceiling hit the water making it shine and reflecting the ripples across the cave's walls. Astrid looked around her, mouth agape, marvelling at the sight before her.

"It's amazing," she said smiling. She looked to Hiccup to see that he was sitting down on the floor with his back against the wall. She sat down next to him making herself comfortable. "So why did you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Hiccup asked looking at her with confusion written across his face.

"You said that you've never told anyone about this place. But you told me. Why?"

He was silent for a second before taking her hand in his. He laced their fingers together before looking up at her. She gazed into his forest eyes, feeling him tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear. The hand in her hair then cupped her neck bringing her head closer to his until their lips met. The kiss was short but full of emotion. She had to focus on her breathing as they pulled apart.

"That's why," was his only reply. She smiled and lay her head on his shoulder, tucking herself into his arm. Their fingers never unlocking for even a second.

They sat together in comfort for a while. The talked. Astrid about her family, Hiccup about his. Astrid especially enjoyed his stories of Gobber and of the things he and Toothless did when the were small. She spoke of some of the wonders of the other world which left Hiccup uncontrollably excited causing his hands to flail around as he spoke. Astrid then enjoyed mocking him about it, at which point he pouted adorably.

Eventually they realised that they ought to leave. The light leaking through the cracks and holes was no longer bright but had turned a dark orange colour. The pool too was no longer reflecting so brightly.

"So how do we get out of here?" Astrid asked looking up at the hole they had fallen out of. It was pretty high up and rock wasn't easy to grip. She guessed they could probably climb back through but it wouldn't be easy.

Then she heard a splash from behind her. She turned around to see Hiccup in the pool grinning at her. His hair was wet and sticking up in all directions.

"What are you doing?" she asked staring at him as he splashed about.

"I'm floating," he replied, his grin growing as she rolled her eyes.

"I can see that, but why?"

"You can't get back up through that whole. This is the only way out." He gestured with his head towards the small pocket of light leaking in beneath the water.

"So we just swim out into open sea?" she asked with a look that spoke volumes of her view of his sanity.

"There's a rock, just the other side of the opening. We climb on, change forms and fly home." He said it like it was the most logical thing in the world.

Astrid just shook her head and sat on the edge of the pool, her feet in the water. It was freezing. Hiccup clearly found her cringing face funny but spoke encouraging words anyway. Eventually she eased herself into the water. And regretted it immediately. She felt like she was about to freeze to death.

"H-how are y-you n-not f-frozen?" she chattered out unable to speak the whole sentence properly.

"Your core," Hiccup replied simply. "It's warm. Use it."

Astrid closed her eyes, struggling to breathe. She focused on her core and slowly felt her temperature rise. Once the water was bearable she opened her eyes again to once again see a proud look in Hiccup's face.

"Are you ready?" he asked, taking her hand in his. She nodded. "Okay, take a deep breath." She did as told and soon he was pulling her under. They swam down and through the underwater entrance, and then swam straight back up to the surface once they were on the other side.

The water of the open sea was choppy and the waves lapped up against the rocks around them. Astrid found it hard to stay above the water. Fortunately, Hiccup had latched himself onto a rock and she was latched onto Hiccup. He pulled her towards the rock and she grabbed a hold too. He ushered her up the rock and she managed to climb on top, soaking wet. He then climbed onto the rock with her and they both changed into their dragon forms and flew up into the sky.

Astrid looked down at the rocks below her. You would never have know that there was a cave beneath the waves. As they flew over the beach she looked down to where the cave entrance lay. From this height, she couldn't even see it.

She looked back up to see Hiccup way ahead of her, she pumped her wings to speed up so that she could catch up with him. It was so strange. She was a dragon. And she was flying. It would take her a while to get used to that.

They flew on, the sky around them in dark orange and red and pink. The sun had sunk below the horizon but the remains of the sunset could still be seen. As they flew the sky grew darker and star began to light it up. A full moon shone brightly about them.

Soon enough they saw the village. Fire torches were lit to light up the streets for those who hadn't gone home for the night. Lights shone from inside houses. At the gate of the harbour, two great stone statues stood like guards, one a viking holding a sword, the other a dragon flaring it's wings. Both had fires lit in their mouths that would surely look fearsome to others, but to those who lived behind the rock guardians, brought comfort.

Astrid stared in awe at the sight before her. She thought of her old home, and how it never felt quite right. She always just assumed that it was because she didn't have many friends or that maybe when she wasn't so busy with school that she'd settle down a bit. But looking at the sight before her made her feels something she hadn't felt before.

Astrid finally felt like she was home.

* * *

 **So? What do you think? I considered doing a long 'teaching Astrid to fly' chapter but I honestly couldn't be bothered especially when's I realised it would take up a few chapters and I also have no idea how to fly... so...**

 **But the the story can really pick up and here's where it gets exciting! I have plans, just bear with me.**

 **OechsnerC:** Sorry it wasn't sooner...

 **thearizona:** Yay! I make sense! Also, I'm sorry my weird brain took so long.

 **Miti-sweets:** Yay! Thanks!

 **The SkrillRider:** Woohoo! Excitement! And don't worry, I'm not cancelling this. Yet... Haha, kidding! Or am I...?

 **dracologistmaster:** I hope this lives up to your expectations.

 **FirstBookworm:** Thanks so much!

 **Changewing rider:** Really?! *sheds tear of joy* Thanks!

 **Poksie:** YESSSSSSSSS

 **Isolde of the Night:** Thanks!

 **Thanks for all the follows, favourites and reviews! You guys are all awesome! Let me know what y think of this chapter please!**

 **Until next time!**


	21. Chapter 21

***Creeps slowly into the room hoping not to get hit with a chair***

 **Hello, yes I am alive and I bring a chapter! Sorry it's been so long, my life has just been super busy lately. My friend and I are also planning a really big trip, as in another continent kind of trip, which has been taking up a lot of time to organise.**

 **But I bring a chapter! Hooray!**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Read on!**

* * *

Astrid stood outside the little hut on the edge of the village, leaning on the wooden railing that prevented her from falling into the sea and the rocks that lay below. The tiny hut sat right on the edge of a cliff propped up on sturdy stilts looking out over the whole of the village letting it's equally tiny inhabitant see all the goings on in Berk if she wished.

It had been three weeks and Astrid felt like she was really starting to fit in. Hiccup had been teaching her something new everyday. Changing forms was starting to feel normal. She was learning more and more about Berk and it was starting to feel like home.

She felt someone beside her and looked up to see her mother lean on the railing to her right. She had noticed a difference in her parents since they had been in Berk. They were much more relaxed and she had never seen them so happy. Back home, they didn't have many friends. But here, they seemed to be friends with everyone.

"You know you don't have to do this," Ingrid said as she stared out across the sea.

"I know," Astrid replied.

"Getting your dragon mark isn't something insignificant, Astrid," Ingrid carried on. "Everyone else in this village got their mark when they were born. But you, you weren't born here. Getting your Dragon Mark is a choice. If you decide you don't want to stay here any more, your abandonment will be a big deal."

Astrid thought about her mother's words. Once she got her mark, leaving would be like betrayal to the people of the village. She thought about her old home. She didn't miss it. She barely thought about it. Life in Berk was amazing. She knew that her parents didn't want to leave. And neither did she.

The door to the little hut opened and the elder stepped out. The woman's name was Gothi. She was a strange old woman who never spoke and who's height equalled that of Astrid's waist. She looked pointedly at Astrid and then retreated back into her hut.

"It's ok, mom," she said with a smile, taking a step back from the railing. "I'm not going anywhere." And with that she pushed open the door and stepped through.

The inside of the hut was something to marvel at. It consisted of one small room. To the right of the door a cauldron hung over a fire, its contents bubbling and spitting. To her left sat a small pile of twigs, leaves grass and straw that looked almost like a nest. Opposite the door was a small bench, which was where the little woman was ushering her to sit.

And although each item was curious enough to capture anyone's attention, Astrid's eyes were drawn to the shelves that lined the walls of the hut. They rose up the walls all the way to the ceiling, each shelf covered in bottles and jars and boxes and pots of all shapes and sizes and colours. It was so mesmerising she forgot to sit, and soon she felt a sharp tug on her sleeve and came face to face with a scowling old lady.

Once she was sat down, Gothi seemed satisfied and turned towards a table in the corner that Astrid hadn't noticed. On top of the table she could see a couple of vials, some brushes and a small bowl with an odd looking substance inside. The elder picked up one of the brushes and used the wooden tip to poke at Astrid's top.

"Do you want me to take it off?" Astrid asked confused. The old woman shook her head before poking her side, just above her stomach. She then made a pulling motion. "Do you want me to pull it up?" Gothi nodded and turned back to the table, picking up one of the vials.

Astrid pulled up her top and the next few minutes were spent watching the elder skilfully draw her Dragon Mark on her side. Once she was done, she picked up the small bowl and dipped two fingers inside. She used her fingers to smooth the substance over the mark on Astrid's skin. It felt odd, like jelly, and she wondered what it was.

She then moved over to one of the shelves where what resembled an hourglass sat. She picked it up off the shelf and placed it on the table. They waited for the sand to fall from one side to the other and then Gothi headed over to a bucket of water that sat under the table. She pulled out a cloth and wrung it out before dabbing it across the Dragon Mark. After wiping off the goop smeared across Astrid's skin, the old lady stepped back with a small smile on her face. She nodded kindly before gesturing to the door.

"Thank you," Astrid replied, nodding back respectfully. She walked over to the door and stepped out.

The sun was bright and it took her eyes a while to adjust to the light. Once they had adjusted she saw her parents standing to the left looking out over the sea, talking. She cleared her throat, gaining their attention. They looked up and grinned walking towards her.

"Well then, let's see it," Sigurd said, excitement clear in his voice. She lifted up her top to show them her side. She saw the proud look on their faces and she knew that she had made the right decision. She felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Tracker Class," Ingrid smiled. "Just like your father."

"We need to celebrate!" Sigurd exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Astrid's shoulders. "I'll go and talk to Stoic." With that the man rushed off towards the large Chief who stood talking to the fishermen at the docks. Astrid and her mother chuckled and slowly made their way back to the town.

As they walked, the passed the small forge that sat on the outskirts of the village, not far from the elder's hut. Astrid briefly wondered if Hiccup was there and looked toward her mother who held a knowing smile on her face. She nodded and Astrid quickly turned off the path and headed towards the forge.

Her frequent visits to see Hiccup had helped her to get used to the feeling of the blast of heat every time she opened the door. It was still shockingly hot and she always felt sweat appear on her forehead as soon as she walked in the door, but somehow it no longer felt quite as bad as the first few times she had entered the building.

As soon as the door was open, the sound of Gobber's terrible singing filled the air. She smiled to herself. She had become quite fond of the man. She peered inside to see him hammering away at an out-of-shape sword. She looked around to see if Hiccup was there but she couldn't see any sign of him. Although if he was here, he would be yelling at Gobber to shut up.

"Hi Gobber!" Astrid called out, trying to be heard over the sound of the man's singing.

"Astrid!" Gobber exclaimed, looking to see who had called him. He put down his tools and wiped his hands on a rag so dirty that his hands were more black than they were before he wiped them. "What can I do for you?"

"I was actually looking for Hiccup," Astrid replied. Gobber grinned.

"Oh you were, huh? Well, he's not here. He left a while ago. But if I were you, I'd check the cliffs. He was mumbling about needing inspiration for something. He tends to sit by the cliffs when he needs inspiration."

"Ok," Astrid replied taking a step back. "Thanks Gobber! See you later!" She stepped out of the forge and turned towards the cliffs. She heard Gobber chuckle as she left, shortly followed by his loud voice continuing it's out of tune song. She laughed quietly to herself as she walked away.

Astrid understood why Hiccup liked the cliffs. The village was built closer to the mountain, the closest buildings to the cliffs being odd houses here and there that villagers who wanted quiet had built. The town was built away from the cliffs so that in the event of a heavy downpour, nothing would be swept away into the sea. It meant that while the village was small and sometimes felt cramped, the cliffs were open and peaceful. She liked that. And she knew Hiccup did too. Which is how she knew the exact spot to find him, sitting on the edge, sketchbook resting beside him, staring out into the sea.

"Hey," she said quietly as she sat beside him. The far away look on his face vanished as soon as she spoke, replaced with a soft smile. "Enjoying the view?"

"Just trying to clear my mind to make room for inspiration," he replied shifting his position so that he could face her.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" she asked.

"No," he said. "I was actually about to head back to the forge. Did you need something?"

"Why do you assume I need something?" Astrid laughed. His smile grew and he poked her in the arm.

"Because I know you." She just rolled her eyes at his comment.

"Well you're wrong," she replied. "Actually I have something to show you that I thought you might want to see." He raised an eyebrow, his curiosity peaked. She slowly lifted up the edge of her shirt to show him her Dragon Mark. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped slightly.

"You got your Dragon Mark," he muttered, more to himself than to her. Then recognition flashed across his features. "You're not leaving?" She slowly shook her head. His grin grew even bigger. "Well then, I have a question for you."

"And what would that be?" she laughed pulling her top back down.

"Astrid Hofferson," Hiccup began seriously. Something about his tone made her heartbeat quicken. "Will you be my girlfriend? As in, officially. I mean, you kind of already are and I know people have kind of guessed that something is going on and-"

"Hiccup," she said to stop his waffling.

"Sorry," he replied, scratching the back of his head. "I get nervous and then I can't stop talking and I ramble and I-"

"Just shut up," Astrid said taking his face in her hands and kissing his stupid, rambling mouth. She pulled back to see a smirk on his face.

"I'll take that as a yes then," he said. She rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm. "Violence!" he exclaimed with a laugh. "You really do belong here."

Astrid shook her head and stood up. She needed to get back to her mom. Hiccup stood up with her.

"Well, I have to go," she said gesturing to the village over her shoulder. "See you later?"

"See you later," he nodded with a smile. The shared one last kiss before pulling apart and going their separate ways.

Astrid managed to find Ingrid and soon they were joined by Sigurd. The man was almost jumping up and down in excitement. Stoic had agreed that a celebration was in order and was already organising the Great Hall for that evening.

Astrid and Ingrid spent the rest of their day deciding what Astrid would wear. According to Ingrid, although her first village celebration was important because it was Berk's first impression of her, this time, when people looked at her, they were looking at the newest addition to their village. It was an important impression.

"Everyone in Berk has a trade," Ingrid continued her explanation. "Now that you're an official member of the tribe, you will have to pick your trade."

"How do I decide my trade?" Astrid asked feeling confused. How was she supposed to just pick what she would work at for the rest of her life? What if she was no good?

"Most follow in the path of their parents but some choose to do something different."

"What did you choose," Astrid asked curiously.

"I followed in my mothers footsteps. She was an excellent seamstress. I was always amazed at the creations her fingers could forge with a needle and thread. But you don't have to do the same as me. You could do anything. Fisher, forester, baker, anything you choose."

Astrid really didn't know what to think. She wasn't sure about any of those options. Especially following in her mothers footsteps. Ingrid had once tried to show her how to sew a button onto a shirt. They had had to scrap the shirt all together by the time she was done. Being a seamstress was just a bad idea.

"What about Dad?" she asked quietly. Her mother seemed to have been expecting the question and smiled.

"Your father is a warrior. He was a part if Stoick's council before we left. He's always been the first one to run into battle to save his home."

"Are there ever female warriors?" Astrid asked, the idea growing on her. Her mother nodded.

"We call them shield maidens. Strong women who use their strength the help the village. I think it would suit you quite well." Astrid looked up surprised by her mother's words. "Although," the woman carried on, "If you want to be a shield maiden, you need to have the perfect look tonight."

A few hours later, Hiccup sat next to his father at the head table. Nearly all of the village was here already. They were all eating and drinking and shouting to one another as usual, but his eyes were constantly scanning for Astrid. He vaguely noticed Toothless and Stormfly seemed to be a little closer and more awkward around each other and filed that away to look into later.

"I'm sure you all remember-" Hiccup looked up to see his father had stood up and begun his speech. He didn't even need to hush the crowd first. His voice was loud enough to quiet the crowd without any effort. Stoick spoke a little of when they were sent away, and when they came back so did the Hoffersons. He spoke of how much they had missed the Hoffersons and how glad they were that they had returned. But it wasn't just the two of them. Now they had a daughter. And their daughter had made a very big decision. Then Astrid was called out.

Hiccup felt like his heart was going to explode. Astrid had her hair in the side braid that had become a signature look for her but braided into her hair was a thin strip of leather. She also had a thin red headband across the top of her head. She wore a red top with a fur hood sitting on her shoulders to keep her warm. Looking closer he saw that the hood doubled a shoulder guards. A leather strap was delicately wrapped around her right arm, intertwining around her fingers.

Astrid also wore red leggings underneath a brown skirt with a few spikes around the bottom and her thick brown boots. On her back sat one of her father's axes, the helm in the perfect position to be pulled off her back should she need it. All in all, she looked both beautiful and absolutely terrifying.

Before he knew it, the entire hall was filled with cheering villagers as Stoick raised Astrid's hand for everyone to see, the grin on her face huge and the smiles on her parent's faces proud.

He was eventually able to speak to her, once he was finally dismissed from the dreaded head table. By that time music was playing and people were dancing. He held out his hand and she took it. They danced together ignoring the stares from others, or the glances that Valka and Ingrid shared between them. In that moment it was just the two of them, and now that he knew that Astrid was here to stay, Hiccup couldn't be happier.

 **Okay so, I apologise for the delay…again… But at least you have a chapter! That's something, right? No? Okay I'll stop now.**

 **For those of you wondering if this story is going anywhere, the next chapter should be a bit more interesting, whenever I manage to get around to it. I'll try to make it sooner than the last one but after the last few chapters, I make no promises.**

 **OechsnerC:** I updated! Sorry it took so long!

 **Hopeismythingwithfeathers:** You'll have to wait and see.

 **Miti-sweets:** Thank you, thank you *bows to an empty room* I try.

 **FirstBookworm:** Thanks!

 **Poksie:** Really?! Oh my gosh thank you!

 **CartoonPonyDrawing:** Thanks!

 **ToxicGirlfriend:** Yaaaaay!

 **The SkrillRider:** Don't worry, I wont quit this one. And I'll be sure to have a look at those stories!

 **Twilight sparkle:** I updated! I updated! Please calm with the spamming! I'm glad you like the story though!

 **Haddockclan819:** But I thought they were really long… I guess I'll try to work on it.

 **Thanks for all the follows, favourites and reviews.**

 **Until next time!**


	22. Chapter 22

**I am so sorry about the wait guys. You are all so patient. You are all amazing!**

 **My excuse this time is that I am currently in the Philippines. Been really busy going places and trying all sorts of food (they eat _a lot_ here). Fortunately for you guys, I am ill right now so I have time to post a chapter.**

 **Anyway, I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Astrid woke up early as had become her routine over the past few weeks. There was something about the village in the early morning that she loved. There weren't many in the village who liked to get up early. The streets were quiet and the early morning light bounced off walls and windows and paved stones. The only people awake were the fisherman and the bakers.

She smiled as she walked down the stairs of her home, avoiding the creaky step in the middle so as not to wake her parents. She helped herself to a piece of bread that sat on the table finishing it off quickly before picking up her axe.

She ran her finger across the engraved handle. It had been a gift from Hiccup. He had given it to her a week after she had gotten her Dragon Mark. Her name had been intricately carved into the handle, a handle which fit in her hand perfectly. It was perfectly weighted and was light enough for her to swing around without tiring too quickly.

Grabbing an apple off the table, Astrid opened the front door and headed outside. She took a bite out of her apple, smiling at the satisfying crunch sound, and propped her axe on top of her shoulder as she headed towards the forest. A few minutes later and she tossed the apple core into a bush in the clearing that had become her usual morning training area.

She stood in the middle and threw her axe at the first tree. She felt pride build as she saw that the axe had sunk about an inch and a half into the wood and had hit the sloppily painted target in the middle. She pulled it out and lobbed it at the next tree that stood behind her. She repeated the action over and over again until she heard tussling in the bushes. She quickly adjusted the grip on her axe and positioned her feet as she had been taught. As soon as she had figured out where the noise was coming from she raised her axe, prepared to throw it if she needed to.

"I come in peace!" she heard a familiar voice yell. She rolled her eyes and dropped her axe to her side.

"I could have killed you," she replied as Hiccup stepped out from behind a tree.

"That's what you think," he said with a wink. She raised her axe up again and he quickly held his hands out in surrender. "Okay, okay! I take it back! Since when are you so aggressive?"

Astrid didn't say anything. She just propped her axe against a tree and shook her head, a smile playing across her lips.

"Is there a reason you're here?" she asked with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"What? I can't come and visit my girlfriend for no reason?" he replied with a smile.

"You could. But you have a reason for everything, so as much as I enjoy spending time with you, what's the reason?"

"I could be spontaneous if I wanted to," Hiccup muttered. He noticed the look Astrid was giving him and cleared his throat. "But you are right. I do have a reason. I thought we could spend the day together. We haven't done that for a while."

Astrid smiled, stepping forwards so that they were face to face. "Well isn't it fortunate that I have no plans for the day."

Hiccup smiled, leaning down to kiss her quickly. He then quickly walked off behind a tree leaving Astrid stood with crossed arms and a raised eye brow. When he came back he held a picnic basket.

"So, I have the perfect island in mind. It shouldn't take too long to get there. Shall we go?"

Astrid nodded and they both changed forms. Hiccup grasped the basket in his claws before taking to the sky, Astrid not far behind. They didn't talk much as they flew. They both liked to enjoy flying and the thrill of flight. They often just cherished the silence between them when they flew. Just enjoyed each others presence.

Soon enough an island came into view. It was small and quite overgrown. It was clearly uninhabited. Hiccup flew around to the far side of the island, landing on a beach with white sand and turquoise water. Astrid landed next to him changing back to her human form and looking around at the sights surrounding her.

"This is amazing," she said with a smile, watching the sunlight shining on the sea.

"I thought you might like it," Hiccup replied from behind her. She turned around to see that he had already set out the blanket and was setting out some food.

She walked over, taking her seat she began helping him take everything out. Once they were done she looked around amazed at the amount of food he had brought. There was fresh bread, smoked salmon, roasted yak, a few pieces of cheese, a couple of apples and she was sure those were a couple of Thyra's special sticky buns.

"How did you manage to get all of this food?" she said staring in amazement.

"I'm the Chief's son. There's usually someone bringing food to our house for some reason or another. Especially since everyone knows my mom can't cook to save her life." The two shared a small laugh before they began eating. They spoke as they ate, laughing at jokes hidden in storylines and listening as one told of something that had happened that the other hadn't heard.

Soon enough, most of the food was gone and the two were full. They packed everything up into the basket before leaving it next to a distinguishable tree and heading off into the thicket to explore.

At some point they ended up playing a spontaneous game of hide and seek that ended up becoming a competition of who could scare the other the most that slowly evolved into a game of tag. They managed to find themselves back at the beach, both falling down in the sand next to each other laughing so hard that tears formed in their eyes.

Then Hiccup stopped laughing. He stopped so quickly it put Astrid on edge. He sat up looking intently at the thick mass of vegetation in front of them.

"Change into your dragon form," he muttered in a low voice. She could hear the worry in the way he spoke.

"Why? What's going on?" she asked confused.

"Just do it. Quickly," was all she got for an answer. He was suddenly in his Night Fury form and she was quick to follow his example. As soon as she had changed forms and she was listening with her dragon ears rather than her human ears, she knew what had Hiccup so riled up.

There was something there. Something else was on the island closing in on the beach. No, there wasn't just one. There was at least three. They weren't human. She had learnt to recognise what a human sounded like.

She was about to suggest they grab the basket and leave when a dragon stepped out of the thicket. A Monstrous Nightmare. A big one. He was a dark red with golden eyes that narrowed in their direction. He called out and soon three other dragons stepped out behind him. Another Nightmare, a Zippleback and a Nadder. The other Nadder was green, her angry eyes a dark brown colour. The Zippleback was brown with yellow accents here and there and the Nadder was dark blue with black accents on his frills and spikes.

" **What are you doing on this island?** " the first Nightmare asked taking a step in front of the other three.

" **Minding our own business** ," Hiccup replied stepping in front of Astrid and holding his head high to show he wasn't afraid. " **What's it to you?** "

" **You're trespassing on our nest's territory. You have no right to be here**."

" **I apologise** ," Hiccup replied relaxing his posture slightly so as not to seem aggressive. " **We weren't aware. We will leave right away and we'll never return**."

" **We can't let you do that** ," the Nadder said, taking a step forward as he spoke. " **Trespassers are to be dealt with by our King. We must escort you to our nest to await his judgement.** "

Astrid turned to Hiccup to see what his response would be but was surprised to see he nodded along. She had realised through the conversation that these were not Dragonborn. They were full dragons. She had never seen any before. She hadn't yet learned much about them but she supposed that Hiccup would know and so as the group of Dragons jumped up into the air with Hiccup alongside them, she was quick to follow.

They flew away from the island in the opposite direction to Berk. The other dragons were silent. The only sound was the flapping of wings and the wind as it whistled in her ears. She glanced over at Hiccup who gave her a reassuring smile. She smiled back to show that she trusted him.

They flew for a while before something in the distance caught Astrid's eye. It was pure white making it seem like a ray of light had been caught and was held in one place. As they drew closer Astrid began to make out different hies of white and blue. Soon it was obvious that whatever it was was where they were headed.

And then she could suddenly make it out. It was almost like an iceberg but more intricate and much more beautiful. Giant shards of ice rose up out of the sea, all intertwining in precision and delicacy, light bouncing of the ice in all directions causing a glare that made her eyes ache. It was amazing.

One of the dragons noticed the way she stared. He snorted before he spoke out with a proud voice.

" **Welcome to the Ice Fortress. Home of the White King**."

* * *

 **So, sorry it's a bit shorter than usual guys. I'll do better on the next chapter I promise. For now, at least there's something relatively exciting happening. Hope you like it, let me know what you think!**

 **thearizona:** Sorry it took so long. I need to work on that. But I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far!

 **CartoonPonyDrawing:** I'm glad you liked that part. I'm sorry I wasn't more descriptive but thanks!

 **OechsnerC:** Thanks!

 **Phoenix373:** Thanks! Don't worry. I will finish this story. I'm just sorry it's taking me so long. I won't abandon it though.

 **Hopeismythingwithfeathers:** That was just uncalled for.

 **dracologistmaster:** Thanks! The trip is going well so far. Apart from being ill...

 **Theimissinglink:** Thanks for the understanding.

 **Checkingdude:** Is this better for you?

 **twilight sparkle:** Of course friends. Thanks for your support with the story!

 **The SkrillRider:** Thanks, Astrid is fitting in just fine.

 **J-jungle-cat:** Updated!

 **Thanks to everyone for all your patience and support!**

 **please favourite, follow and review!**

 **Until next time!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey, hope the wait wasn't too long. I tried to get the chapter out faster this time.**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Astrid looked around the cavern they had been ushered into. There was only one way in and out and she knew for a fact that there was another dragon on the other side of the entrance to stop them from leaving. The walls were made purely of ice, just as the rest of the Fortress.

What surprised her was that it wasn't cold. Her scales may have helped her to feel the cold less, but she usually felt colder around ice than she did now.

She stood watching the entrance, waiting for the dragons to come back, wondering about what they would do, worrying about what would happen. They had been left there for a long time. She glanced at Hiccup who had curled up in the corner.

" **How are you so calm?** " she asked him with a confused look on her face.

" **Because I know we're going to be okay,** " he explained. " **All we need to do is explain to their King that we didn't know the island was in their territory, that we apologise and will never do it again.** "

" **You made that sound really easy,** " Astrid glared at him. She was about to carry on when the red Monstrous Nightmare entered the cavern followed by a couple of dragons that they hadn't seen before, an older looking green Gronkle and a pink and white Deadly Nadder.

" **These are the dragons we found,** " he said with a slight nod of his head in their direction.

" **And they claim that they weren't aware that the island was in our nest's territory?** " the Gronkle asked with narrowed eyes in their direction.

" **That's what they claim,** " the Nightmare replied.

" **Well, I don't see what the problem is,** " the Gronkle muttered. " **Take them to the King if you must, but if they didn't know, they didn't know. That's not their fault.** " She went to leave when the Nadder stopped her.

" **Wait,** " she said sniffing the air around Astrid and Hiccup. " **Do you smell that?** "

" **Smell what?** " the Nightmare asked.

" **They smell faintly like humans,** " the Nadder growled.

" **They are with the humans!** " The Nightmare exclaimed, his wings flaring with anger.

" **We are not with the humans!** " Hiccup exclaimed standing up in a defensive position. " **We are hunted by the humans! Why would we be with them?** "

" **That doesn't explain your scent, Night Fury,** " the Gronkle stated, a sharpness in her voice that hadn't been there before. " **Take them to the King. He will decide.** " With that they were ushered out of the cavern and lead down a series of tunnels.

" **What do we do?** " Astrid whispered as low as she could so that only Hiccup could hear her.

" **Hope this doesn't end badly,** " Hiccup replied. Astrid could hear the worry in his words. If only could have hidden their human halves' scents, then there would have been no problems. They might have even been flying on their way home by now.

Soon enough the tunnel opened up to reveal a huge cavern. Astrid stared up in amazement at the dragons that lined the walls. There were so many kinds she had never seen before. They were led to a ledge and were made to stop at the edge, the other dragons taking up position just behind them.

And then up from the crevice below rose the largest dragon Astrid had ever seen. He was white with hints of black and dark grey here and there. He had spikes along most of his body and two large tusks. His ice blue eyes bore into them as they both bowed before him, along with all the other dragons in the open cavern.

" **Sire,** " the Gronkle started. " **These two were found trespassing on our territories. What worries me, Sire, is that their scent smells vaguely of humans. I believe them to be Changelings.** " As the word left the older dragon's lips, a gasp travelled across the cavern. The other dragons began murmuring among themselves. The King, though, just sighed loudly, a puff of frosty air escaping his nose.

" **Greenwise,** " the King spoke, his voice loud and echoing around the icy walls. " **Have them shown themselves to be aggressive in any way?** "

" **No, Sire, but-** "

" **Other than trespassing, have they committed any other crimes against this nest?** "

" **No, Sire.** "

" **Young ones,** " he then said turning to Hiccup and Astrid. " **Were you aware that you were trespassing?** "

" **No, my Lord,** " Hiccup replied with a respectful bow of his head.

" **And what of these Changeling accusations? Are they true?** " Astrid held her breath waiting for Hiccup's answer, but they both knew that they couldn't lie to the King.

" **I will not lie, Sire,** " Hiccup replied with a bow of his head. " **They are true.** "

A collective gasp filled the cavern. Dragons who were close to them took a step back. Astrid felt horrible that these creatures feared them, just for what they are. She was completely surprised when the King spoke again.

" **Quiet,** " his voice boomed over the whispering crowds. " **Do you have allegiance with the humans, young ones?** "

" **Of course not!** " Hiccup exclaimed receiving surprised whispers from the surrounding dragons, who had clearly not been expecting this response. The King growled and the whispers stopped abruptly. " **Our nest is attacked by humans quite regularly. We had lost many because of them.** " His voice softened at the end and Astrid noticed a few of the dragons casting them sympathetic looks.

" **Thank you for your honesty, young Night Fury,** " the King smiled. Astrid had a feeling that he already knew all the answers before he asked the questions and that he was just trying to prove a point.

" **Greenwise,** " he continued addressing the Gronkle again. " **They may be half human, but we cannot forget the half that is dragon. Now, you must be hungry. Cloudjumper!** " A large Stormcutter stepped forwards from the right. " **Please take these two young dragons to get something to eat before their return journey to their nest.** "

" **Of course, sire,** " Cloudjumper replied with a bow. He started off towards a tunnel to their right, Astrid and Hiccup moving to follow him with thanks and respectful bows to the White King who merely smiled fondly as they left.

The followed the large Stormcutter as he weaved in and out of tunnels taking left turns and right and Astrid felt thoroughly lost by the time they found themselves in a small cave filled with things that she felt were odd to see in a dragon's cave.

In the far corner, furs and pillows were strewn across the floor. There was also a small desk leaning against a wall with a small stool covered in books and paper. She even glimpsed a small pot set over some coals. Her curiosity was answered when the dragon in front of them shifted into a human form. Hiccup snorted and shifted forms too, Astrid following his lead.

"You're both very fortunate that the King is so kind towards Changelings," Cloudjumper muttered while moving over to his desk trying to organise the papers strewn across the top.

"You're a Changeling too," Astrid spoke, more to herself than anything else. Really, this day was becoming more and more stressful as it went and it wasn't over yet. Cloudjumper just smiled before carrying on what he was doing.

"Where are you from?" Hiccup asked leaning against a wall watching the man that stood before them.

"An island not too far outside this nest's territories. But I haven't been there for a very long time. I suppose it doesn't really matter anymore." He moved away from the desk towards the corner where the pot sat over the coals. A flick of his wrist and the fire was started up again beneath the pot. He took out a spoon mixing whatever concoction was inside.

"I'd still be interested in knowing," Hiccup prodded. Astrid felt like hitting him. If Cloudjumper didn't want to tell them, then that was up to him. Cloudjumper obviously saw the expression on her face.

"It's ok," he laughed. "I don't mind. It's just that I've been gone so long that I'm sure if I returned I wouldn't even recognise it anymore. I grew up on Berk. Though that was a very long time ago."

"Berk?" Hiccup asked. Astrid watched as he stood up straight from the wall with full interest.

"Yes," Cloudjumper replied with a fond smile. "Do you know it?"

"That's where we're from," Hiccup replied. Cloudjumper's eyes widened in surprise.

"Really?" he asked moving to stir the pot again. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen," Hiccup replied taking a step closer as if to analyse the man more, as if he recognised him somehow.

"Well, I left about twenty years ago, you wouldn't have been born then. Do you mind if I ask who your parents are? I'm just curious since you look quite familiar."

"My father is Stoick," Hiccup replied, still looking intently at the man in front of them.

"Ah," Cloudjumper smiled. "I assume he's taken over from his father by now. That makes you the Chief's son. What about your mother? Who ended up marrying that hard head?"

"My mother's name is Valka," Hiccup replied, not taking any note of the comment about his father.

"Val?" Cloudjumper asked, stopping everything he was doing, his whole demeaner drooping in surprise. "She married Stoick? Wow, I did not see that coming. They hated each other when we were younger. I do see the resemblance now. You really are a mix of both of them."

"You know my mother?" Hiccup asked curiously.

"Of course," Cloudjumper replied. "She's my sister."

* * *

 **Ok, so this is probably a predictable kind of cliff hanger but oh well. I'm pretty sure I was faster in updating this time! Yay me! Sorry about the length too. This ended up being a lot shorter than I had expected.**

 **Odddollar:** Thanks. I know. To be honest I really don't like how this story has turned out but I'm in it now and I will continue to the end. I do have a plan though but I'm afraid it doesn't involve them going back through the portal. Thanks for your input though.

 **thearizona:** So the King only had a short appearance, but he will be back. And thanks for the understanding.

 **twilight sparkle:** The White King falling for Astrid…. Not sure I've ever read that in a story before, never occurred to me either… Not sure about it. Anyway, thanks for the review!

 **So thanks for the reviews and the follows and favourites! Always happy for reviews to let me know where I can improve, also with other ideas. Really enjoy reading people's opinions.**

 **Until next time!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey! So, I managed to get this out faster, huh?**

 **I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.**

 **Read on!**

* * *

"You know my mother?" Hiccup asked curiously.

"Of course," Cloudjumper replied. "She's my sister."

Hiccup's eyes widened. Astrid didn't blame him. Her own eyes were wide and it wasn't even her family that they were talking about.

"So," Hiccup started slowly, trying to gather his words. "You're my uncle?"

"It would appear so," Cloudjumper replied with a smile. "Do I get to know my nephew's name?"

Astrid then realised that they never had actually told him their names. She could almost hear her mother's lecture about basic conversational etiquette when meeting new people. Half dragon or not, they weren't savages.

"Hiccup," Hiccup said in reply. "I have a brother too. His name's Toothless."

"So, I have two nephews," Cloudjumper said turning back to stir the pot before deeming whatever was inside ready to eat and pulling three bowls of the table, ladling some of the contents of the pot into each. He handed them both a bowl and leant against the wall sipping slowly at his own. "You're not my niece, are you?" he chuckled looking at Astrid.

"No," she smiled between sips of her own bowl. The soup inside was actually quite delicious. It was amazing compared to Valka's cooking skills. Astrid could see who had inherited the cooking genes out of the two of them. "I'm Astrid Hofferson."

"Ah," Cloudjumper smiled. "So I take it that Sigurd and Ingrid finally got together. Honestly, those two had had a crush on each other since they were twelve."

"That sounds like Toothless and Stormfly," Hiccup said with a snort. Noticing Cloudjumper's confused expression he carried on. "My brother. He's liked a girl for the past couple of years. She likes him too but neither of them will tell the other."

Cloudjumper let out a small laugh and the three of them finished their soup in silence. Once they were all done, Cloudjumper collected the bowls and put them in a pile to the side.

"Why did you leave?" Astrid decided to ask.

"I had always loved exploring," Cloudjumper replied. "I was never satisfied with just staying in one place. So, one day I decided to go on a trip. Truly experience what it was like to be a dragon. Free with no responsibilities. Nowhere to go but forwards. No plans. Just the sky. I said I'd go back one day when I was finally ready to settle down. I never really was. Not until recently anyway."

"So why settle here?" Hiccup asked glancing around at the very lived in cave.

"I knew that one I was back, especially after being gone for so long, I wouldn't be able to leave again. Your mother would never let me leave. I wanted to make sure I was truly ready to settle down before going home and being trapped. I passed through this nest and decided to stay. I haven't been here a long time but I've been here long enough to know I'm ready to go home. Despite what you may think, I do miss home."

"So come back with us," Hiccup replied. "We're going that way anyway. Why not join us on the journey.?"

Cloudjumper looked thoughtful for a while. Astrid wasn't sure if he would come with them or not. Despite his speech about going home, she wasn't sure he really was ready. Wouldn't he have returned by now?

"I don't know," he said slowly. Astrid watched as he moved over to his make-shift desk and start rummaging around the papers. She also noticed the change on Hiccup's face as he understood what the problem was.

"You know," he started gaining his uncle's attention. "As much as I love exploring, mom never lets me go anywhere for more than a day. But, if I had you to come with me, we could convince her to let us go for a few days at a time. You don't have to give up exploring just because you go back to Berk. And I'd love to go with you. If you were up for that."

Cloudjumper looked thoughtful. He perched himself on the stood that sat in front of the desk and looked Hiccup over for a few seconds before he smiled with a nod.

"You're right," he said. "Going home doesn't mean I have to give up travelling completely. And I would be honoured to share the experience with you. I've always been alone on my travels. It would be nice to have someone to share them with."

"Good," Hiccup laughed. "But don't be surprised if a few others end up joining us too."

The three all laughed together. Cloudjumper stood and began gathering a few things into a large pack before leaving it all in a bundle by the entrance to the cave.

"Before we leave, I must thank the King. He has been good to me. I owe him a farewell."

"We need to do the same," Hiccup added. Astrid nodded along.

The three of them shifted forms and left the cave heading down the endless tunnels of the Fortress to get to the cavern where the White King sat watching the dragons that flew around stretching their wings.

" **My King,** " Cloudjumper said as he stood on the edge of the crevice and bowed low before the great Bewilderbeast. Hiccup and Astrid were quick to do the same.

" **Cloudjumper,** " the King smiled. " **I trust you took good care of our guests.** "

" **He did, Sire,** " Hiccup replied. " **But we will now be returning to our own nest.** "

" **Very well, young Night Fury,** " the King said with a slight nod. " **I wish you well on your journey.** "

" **Thank you, Sire,** " Hiccup replied taking a step back to stand beside Astrid and leaving Cloudjumper at the front.

" **My King,** " Cloudjumper said stooping as he spoke. " **I wish to inform you that I too shall be leaving.** "

" **I thought you might,** " the King replied. " **I take it that they are from your home nest.** "

" **They are, Sire. And I have been gone for too long. I must return to my kin.** "

" **Very well,** " the King said with a smile. " **I wish you well on your journey and your return home.** "

" **Thank you, my King,** " Cloudjumper replied with another bow. "And thank you for your hospitality in receiving me into your nest. I have truly been at home here."

" **It was our pleasure to have you here, Cloudjumper. Now, go. We have kept you here long enough.** " With that, the White King puffed a large cloud of snow, giving them his blessing and turned away dismissing them. Cloudjumper stood and nodded in the direction of the tunnels.

The three Dragonborn walked through the tunnels until they came across the pack that Cloudjumper had left at the entrance. He gathered the bundle in his claws and began guiding them to the exit. Soon enough they were out in the open and the three of them took off soaring off into the sunset and heading straight for Berk.

* * *

 **So, I know that it's short. I am ashamed by the length. It's a lot of dialogue that needed to be written so that you can understand Cloudjumper's story but other than that there wasn't much else to the chapter. I could have made it longer but I didn't want to go overboard with the dialogue and the conversation.**

 **Secret love writer:** Thanks.

 **2012209:** Dun dun duuuunnnn...

 **Thearizona:** Thanks! Hope this was interesting enough.

 **Anyway, I hope you like it and please leave some feedback.**

 **Also, if you get a chance, check out my story** Over The Wall **. It's only going to be short, 9 chapters long, but I'm kind of proud of it. It's complete but I'll be uploading the chapters weekly so it won't interfere with my writing Dragonborn. Please check it out and let me know what you think!**

 **Until next time!**


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